The Japanese yen jumped against major currencies on Friday. Investors awaited U.S. President Donald Trump’s response to China’s passing of a national security law for Hong Kong.
Uncertainty on FX markets caused a boost for safe-haven currencies. However, the U.S. dollar lowered by 0.4% against the Japanese currency, at 107.17 yen. Even though the situation seems under control now, traders fear that it could become volatile fast.
Despite this, the Chinese yuan changed insignificantly in the Offshore market. It traded at 7.1661 per dollar, near to the nine-month low of 7.1965 yuan per dollar which the yuan reached on Wednesday.
The market is still fearful that things may escalate into something more serious – noted Moh Siong Sim, a currency strategist at Bank of Singapore. He also added that, if Trump were serious with trade tariffs, they would have a meaningful impact. And while you could never quite predict Trump, this year, it seems really difficult for him to act directly due to the dire state of the U.S. economy.
The euro surged forward on Friday. What about the British pound?
The Euro climbed up by 0.2% to $1.111, reaching its highest point since March 30. The currency increased steadily for the past few days. The Euro got a boost following the European Commission’s stimulus plan issued earlier last week. It headed for its second weekly gain after the 750 billion-euro coronavirus recovery fund fuelled optimism about the eurozone economy.
On the other hand, the British pound declined against the euro. But it managed to rebound later, climbing up by 0.3% at 90.145 pence. Against the dollar, the sterling was more or less steady. It fell by 0.04% to $1.2312 but still managed to stay on course for its second weekly gain.
Speculation about negative interest rates and lack of progress in EU trade talks, along with the calls for the resignation of one of the aides to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, caused the pound’s downfall.
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