The yen rises; the euro waiting for the ECB meeting

The Japanese yen, considered a safe haven, gains positions against the US dollar on Thursday in the face of a strong risk aversion attack, as the fight to contain the new virus similar to pneumonia in China intensifies, although Volatility is limited.

At 9:30 am (CET), the yen had risen 0.2% against the dollar, with USD / JPY standing at 109.56. The Chinese yuan drops 0.4% against the greenback, the USD / CNY pair at the level of 6.9313. The dollar index, which follows the evolution of this currency with respect to a basket of six other major currencies, remains basically unchanged at 97.30.

China has ordered a travel suspension from Wuhan, the city of 11 million people that is at the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, as a last attempt to stop the spread of the disease. The virus has claimed at least 17 lives so far and has infected hundreds of people in China, and some more in the United States, Thailand, Taiwan, Japan and the Republic of Korea.

On the other hand, the EUR / USD pair falls 0.1% to the level of 1.1087 while traders hold the monetary policy meeting of the European Central Bank (ECB) held during this day. The meeting will be followed by a press conference of President Christine Lagarde.

Economists do not expect changes of any kind in monetary policy, and the focus will be on central bank forecasts and information on their strategic review.

“In this environment, markets could pay greater attention to statements about the tentative stabilization of economic data and some elimination of downside risks,” Nordea analysts (ST: NDASE ) said in a research note. , “which, in other words, would mean less need for monetary relaxation.

That said, Nordea does not believe that the euro will receive a very lasting support from the central bank, “since the possibility that the market considers a possible significant monetary relaxation by the ECB remains very remote.”