A Quiet Day on the Economic Calendar Leaves the Coronavirus in Focus

Earlier in the Day:

It was a relatively quiet day on the Asian economic calendar this morning. The Japanese Yen and the Aussie Dollar, by proxy, were in action early on.

Outside of the numbers, the doom and gloom economic forecasts for China that hit the news wires on Friday limited any major moves. The spread of the coronavirus continued through the weekend, with the death toll moving towards 1,000.

For the Japanese Yen

The current account surplus, non-seasonally adjusted, narrowed from ¥1.437tn to ¥0.524tn in December. Economists had forecast a surplus of ¥0.417tn.

The Japanese Yen moved from ¥109.659 to ¥109.656 upon release of the figures. At the time of writing, the Japanese Yen was down by 0.04% to ¥109.79 against the U.S Dollar.

Out of China

Inflation figures for January were in focus.

Consumer prices rose by 0.1% in January, month-on-month, leading an acceleration in the annual rate of inflation from 4.5% to 5.4%. Economists had forecast an annual rate of inflation of 4.9%.

The annual rate of wholesale inflation hit 0.1%, bouncing back from an annual rate of deflation of 0.5% in December.

The Aussie Dollar moved from $0.66782 to $0.66885 upon release of the stats. At the time of writing, the Aussie Dollar was up by 0.25% to $0.6690, supported by the solid inflation figures.

Elsewhere

At the time of writing, the Kiwi Dollar up by 0.14% to $0.6409.

The Day Ahead:

For the EUR

It’s a quiet day ahead on the economic calendar, with no material stats due out of the Eurozone to provide direction.

A lack of stats will leave the EUR in the hands of market sentiment towards the Eurozone economy and geopolitical risk.

At the time of writing, the EUR was up by 0.04% to $1.0950.

For the Pound

It’s also a quiet day ahead on the economic calendar, with no material stats due out of the UK to provide the Pound with direction.

The lack of stats leaves the Pound in the hands of Brexit chatter, which will likely remain negative.

News of trade talks and positive updates with other key trading partners could provide some near-term support, however.

At the time of writing, the Pound was up by 0.01% to $1.2893.

Across the Pond

It’s also a quiet day ahead on the data front.

There are no material stats due out to provide the Greenback with direction at the start of the week.

Expect any chatter from the Oval Office to influence, however. Trump will be looking to make further progress on foreign policy following his acquittal last week.

At the time of writing, the Dollar Spot Index was down by 0.03% to 98.657.

For the Loonie

It’s a relatively busy day ahead on the economic calendar. Key stats include January housing start and December building permit figures.

The numbers are unlikely to have a material impact on the Loonie, however.

Dire economic growth forecasts for China will need OPEC to pull back on production. Failure to deliver could see crude oil prices and the Loonie under more pressure in the week ahead…

The Loonie was up by 0.01% at C$1.3306 against the U.S Dollar, at the time of writing.