AGL 40.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.02%)
AIRLINK 127.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.99 (-0.77%)
BOP 6.68 Increased By ▲ 0.08 (1.21%)
CNERGY 4.49 Decreased By ▼ -0.11 (-2.39%)
DCL 8.60 Increased By ▲ 0.12 (1.42%)
DFML 41.30 Decreased By ▼ -0.18 (-0.43%)
DGKC 86.71 Increased By ▲ 0.13 (0.15%)
FCCL 32.16 Increased By ▲ 0.02 (0.06%)
FFBL 64.70 Decreased By ▼ -0.72 (-1.1%)
FFL 10.29 Increased By ▲ 0.04 (0.39%)
HUBC 109.51 Decreased By ▼ -0.98 (-0.89%)
HUMNL 14.90 Increased By ▲ 0.15 (1.02%)
KEL 5.05 Decreased By ▼ -0.08 (-1.56%)
KOSM 7.40 Increased By ▲ 0.28 (3.93%)
MLCF 41.39 Decreased By ▼ -0.26 (-0.62%)
NBP 60.60 Increased By ▲ 0.51 (0.85%)
OGDC 190.00 Decreased By ▼ -4.69 (-2.41%)
PAEL 27.81 Decreased By ▼ -0.14 (-0.5%)
PIBTL 7.75 Decreased By ▼ -0.25 (-3.13%)
PPL 149.75 Decreased By ▼ -1.42 (-0.94%)
PRL 26.73 Decreased By ▼ -0.15 (-0.56%)
PTC 16.18 Increased By ▲ 0.18 (1.13%)
SEARL 86.02 Increased By ▲ 7.82 (10%)
TELE 7.72 Increased By ▲ 0.33 (4.47%)
TOMCL 35.58 Decreased By ▼ -0.09 (-0.25%)
TPLP 8.14 Increased By ▲ 0.23 (2.91%)
TREET 16.51 Increased By ▲ 0.62 (3.9%)
TRG 53.35 Increased By ▲ 0.59 (1.12%)
UNITY 26.28 Decreased By ▼ -0.27 (-1.02%)
WTL 1.26 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.79%)
BR100 9,889 Decreased By -31.1 (-0.31%)
BR30 30,611 Decreased By -140.9 (-0.46%)
KSE100 93,355 Increased By 130.9 (0.14%)
KSE30 28,931 Increased By 46 (0.16%)
Markets

Dollar edges down, set for weekly loss; Aussie and Kiwi rise

  • At 0831 GMT, the dollar was at 91.953 versus a basket of currencies, down 0.1pc on the day and close to its lowest in three months.
Published November 27, 2020

LONDON: The dollar fell in early London trading on Friday and was on track for a weekly loss against a basket of currencies, even as the equity market rally ran out of steam as sentiment was hurt by doubts about AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine.

The dollar has fallen more than 2.2pc so far this month as global market sentiment has surged on Joe Biden's U.S. election victory and news of progress in the development of COVID-19 vaccines, lessening demand for the safe-haven currency.

But sentiment became more mixed after several scientists raised doubts about the success rate for the vaccine developed by British drugmaker AstraZeneca.

AstraZeneca had said on Monday that its vaccine was 70pc effective in pivotal trials, and could be up to 90pc effective - the latest in a slew of positive vaccine announcements which had boosted investor confidence.

"Virus and vaccine news remain the main catalysts for markets as the US calendar is empty until Monday," ING strategists wrote in a note to clients.

"All in all, risk sentiment still appears in stabilization mode, and the dollar may keep oscillating around 2-year lows (the 92.00 level for DXY) today due to the lack of clear catalysts and reduced trading volumes," they said.

At 0831 GMT, the dollar was at 91.953 versus a basket of currencies, down 0.1pc on the day and close to its lowest in three months.

Market price-action was limited on Thursday by the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States, which will be operating on reduced trading hours on Friday.

The Australian dollar - a liquid proxy for risk - hit its highest in nearly three months in early London trading and was up 0.2pc at 0.7375 at 0834 GMT.

Australia's second-largest state, Victoria, which was once the country's COVID-19 hotspot, said on Friday that it has gone 28 days without detecting new infections.

The Kiwi dollar, which is having its best month since late 2013, was up 0.1pc on the day at 0.7019.

"Clearly, the biggest single risk for financial markets now is the failure of vaccines being rolled out smoothly in Q1 2021," wrote MUFG strategist Derek Halpenny.

"The other key risk that also continues to be ignored is the ongoing surge in COVID infections and deaths in the US," he said, adding that if President-elect Joe Biden brings in new lockdown restrictions while the rest of the world is recovering next year then that provide a further reason to sell the dollar.

Dollar-yen was down 0.2pc at 104.03 at 0836 GMT. China's offshore yuan was on track for its first week of net losses versus the dollar this month.

The euro was up 0.1pc at $1.1925, having shown little reaction to downbeat comments from the European Central Bank's chief economist Philip Lane on Thursday.

Elsewhere, the pound was steady at $1.3369 as UK investors watched Brexit negotiations for signs of progress.

The European Union's chief negotiator said he would travel to London later on Friday to continue talks. Euro-sterling was steady at 89.22 pence per euro at 0844 GMT.

Bitcoin, which stabilised overnight after wiping off more than a week's worth of gains on Thursday, was starting to fall again in early London trading, but less steeply than in the previous session.

Comments

Comments are closed.