Dollar shaky as investors balance hope against virus fears

June 22, 2020, 01.24 PM | Source: Reuters
Dollar shaky as investors balance hope against virus fears

ILUSTRASI. A U.S. dollar


Total global coronavirus cases are now over 8.8 million and focus has been on whether this may lead to fresh lockdowns.

Broadly that is seen as unlikely, even though localised restrictions have been re-imposed in Beijing, and Australia's Victoria state.

Yet concern about such a possibility has, for now, stalled surging gains in commodity currencies such as the Australian dollar, which along with the New Zealand dollar has been rangebound for over a week.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand announces its latest benchmark interest rate settings on Wednesday. It is all but certain to keep rates on hold at 0.25%, leaving markets to focus on its tone and on talk of negative rates in the future.

Read Also: Gold hits 1-month peak as rising virus fears boost demand

"Unlike in Australia, we think the RBNZ's dovishness will blunt any potential (kiwi) strength in 2020," Morgan Stanley analysts said in a note.

Barclays also said it expects continued pressure on the kiwi.

Besides Tuesday's PMI data and German sentiment surveys, investors will also be looking to U.S. consumer confidence figures out later the same day to gauge whether encouraging signs of recovery from May can be sustained.

A jump in net short bets on the U.S. dollar last week to their highest since 2018 suggests investors are dialling back safe-haven positions on views the world's rapid economic recovery will continue - leaving plenty of room for surprises on the downside.

Editor: Anna Suci Perwitasari

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