Here’s what you need to know to trade today Friday October 20:
Safe-haven monetary flows have begun to dominate financial markets early on Friday, with investors turning their attention to geopolitics heading into the weekend. No relevant data will be published on the US economic agenda and market participants will pay close attention to the comments from Federal Reserve officials (Fed) before the silence period begins this Saturday.
The president of the Fed, Jerome Powellacknowledged on Thursday that rising bond yields were leading to a tightening of financial conditions and noted that it could have implications for monetary policy. In assessing the outlook for monetary policy, “the task of balancing too much tightening against too little is complicated by a number of uncertainties,” Powell said at the Economic Club of New York. These cautious comments made it difficult for the US Dollar (USD) to outperform its rivals during the American session and the DXY Dollar Index closed in negative territory before entering a consolidation phase below 106.50 early on Friday.
US Dollar Prices This Week
The following table shows the percentage change of the United States Dollar (USD) against the main currencies this week.
| USD | EUR | GBP | CAD | AUD | JPY | NZD | CHF | |
| USD | -0.50% | 0.37% | 0.57% | -0.01% | 0.20% | 1.38% | -1.08% | |
| EUR | 0.49% | 0.89% | 1.06% | 0.49% | 0.69% | 1.87% | -0.60% | |
| GBP | -0.37% | -0.85% | 0.21% | -0.37% | -0.16% | 1.03% | -1.41% | |
| CAD | -0.57% | -1.07% | -0.19% | -0.58% | -0.37% | 0.81% | -1.66% | |
| AUD | 0.02% | -0.49% | 0.34% | 0.58% | 0.22% | 1.40% | -1.13% | |
| JPY | -0.20% | -0.68% | 0.20% | 0.35% | -0.20% | 1.18% | -1.25% | |
| NZD | -1.39% | -1.90% | -1.03% | -0.81% | -1.37% | -1.18% | -2.52% | |
| CHF | 1.06% | 0.58% | 1.45% | 1.63% | 1.06% | 1.27% | 2.43% |
The heat map shows the percentage changes of the major currencies against each other. The base currency is chosen in the left column, while the quote currency is chosen in the top row. For example, if you choose the euro in the left column and scroll down the horizontal line to the Japanese yen, the percentage change that appears in the box will represent EUR (base)/JPY (quote).
In a televised speech on Thursday, the President of the United States, Joe Biden said he will ask Congress to approve additional funds to help Israel. Citing a person familiar with the matter, Reuters reported that the fund would amount to 14 billion dollars. Although Biden’s financing plan has broad support in the Senate, a law cannot be passed until the US House of Representatives has yet to approve a permanent speaker. Following these developments, bond selling continued on Thursday and the 10-year benchmark yield hit 5% for the first time since 2007. In the European morning, the 10-year benchmark falls below 4.95%.
He EUR/USD It reached a new weekly high above 1.0600 on Thursday, but lost its bullish momentum early on Friday. At the time of writing, the pair is trading within a tight range above 1.0550.
The UK retail sales declined 0.9% monthly in September, as reported on Friday by the United Kingdom’s Office for National Statistics. This reading followed the 0.4% increase recorded in August and was worse than the market forecast for a 0.1% decline. Furthermore, in an interview given on Friday to the Belfast Telegraph, the Governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey declared that he expects a “marked fall” in inflation next month. The pair GBP/USD is under bearish pressure during the European morning and is now trading in negative territory around 1.2100.
He USD/JPY continues to trade dangerously close to 150.00 on Friday. The governor of the Bank of Japan, Kazuo Ueda, stated earlier in the day that they should closely monitor the movements of the currency market and their impact on the economy and prices of Japan.
The price of Gold It continues to find demand as a safe haven asset and extends its impressive recovery to reach its highest level in three months, above $1,980.
Source: Fx Street
I am Joshua Winder, a senior-level journalist and editor at World Stock Market. I specialize in covering news related to the stock market and economic trends. With more than 8 years of experience in this field, I have become an expert in financial reporting.
