FOREX
The dollar is down against the euro, the yen and the pound during early Thursday trading, as investors await the publication of the initial jobless claim numbers in the United States with some anxiety. It is widely expected that these numbers will be extremely high, potentially the worst in many decades due to the abrupt economic slowdown caused by the measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
At the same time the number of new Covid-19 cases in the US is spiking, further weighing the greenback down. It is interesting to note that the dollar’s weakness is occurring despite the White House and Congress having reached an agreement on an economic aid package worth $2 trillion, reinforcing the idea that during these interesting times the virus is setting the agenda, not policy makers.
Ricardo Evangelista – Senior Analyst, ActivTrades
OIL
Oil attempted to rebound earlier this morning but despite these dramatically volatile times, the price remains drowned by growing expectation of a huge oversupply. The combination of coronavirus and the failed OPEC+ deal is putting the barrel in an extremely dangerous situation. Technically, the first key resistance area has now been moved to $25, on the peak reached yesterday, while $23-$23.20 is an interesting area of support which is stopping further declines. However, any fall below this zone could generate renewed selling momentum. Many automatic stop losses are now placed below this level as investors are still expecting another return to $20-$21 amid the coronavirus crisis further degenerating and with it an even more severe hit to the long term demand for oil.
Carlo Alberto De Casa – Chief analyst, ActivTrades
