Forex news for North American trading on March 11, 2020:
- WHO's Tedros finally calls it: The coronavirus can be characterized as a pandemic
- UK unveils massive coronavirus fiscal measures for businesses and workers
- US February CPI +2.3% y/y vs +2.2% expected
- US House coronavirus relief bill will be announced Wednesday
- More on the rocket attack in Iraq - death toll
- Republican Senator Chuck Grassley says he doesn't know if payroll tax holiday would be effective
- German coronavirus cases rise to 1567 from 1296
- Washington State bans certain gatherings of over 250 people
- Italy coronavirus cases jump to 12,462 from 10,149
- US sells 10-year notes at record low of 0.849% at auction
- Alberta hints at more oil production curtailments
- WHO's Tedros finally calls it: The coronavirus can be characterized as a pandemic
- Qatar reports 238 new cases of coronavirus
- US crude oil inventories show a build of 7.664M vs 1.7M estimate
- Treasury Secretary Mnuchin:The impact of the virus was initially underestimated internationally
- UK coronavirus cases rise to 456 from 373 yesterday
Markets:
- S&P 500 down 4.9% -- down 141 points to 2741 -- briefly falls 20% from all-time high
- DJIA down 5.9%
- US 10-year yields up 6.6 bps to 0.87%
- Gold down $10 to $1636
- JPY leads, GBP lags
The wild ride continued in markets but it was all risk aversion on Wednesday and a strong bid in the yen.
The UK budget won near-universal praise but the rising number of cases in the UK and surprise Bank of England rate cut weighed on the pound after an early bounce.
The euro also weakened, suggesting that flows around carry trade unwinds might be winding down or have been overwhelmed by safe haven flows into the US dollar, especially with Treasury yields finding something of a bottom.
Commodity currencies sagged again after some early strength in Europe but they held in the recent ranges.
Gold fell for a third day after this week's long-term high.
