Forex News Timeline

"There is a lot of potential for the small business lending program to be successful," St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard told CBS on Sunday, per Reuters. "The economic relief bill is well-sized to help the US economy," Bullard added. "Putting in place universal testing for coronavirus would help the economy." USD strength dominates FX market The US Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback's performance against a basket of six major currencies, closed the week 2.42% higher to reflect the broad-based USD strength.Forex Today: Dollar the strongest as risk aversion rules. 

Here is what you need to know on Monday, April 6th: Risk aversion leads the way. The coronavirus pandemic continues to take its toll on economic developments, with the US losing 701,000 jobs’ positions in March, much worse than anticipated. The unemployment rate in the country jumped 1 full digit from 3.4% to 4.4%. The final readings of March Services PMI for most major economies suffered downward revisions to record lows. The US Federal Reserve announced on Friday it would dial back the daily pace of bond-buying to $50 billion a day starting this week, down from the initial buying of $75 billion, a positive sign toward some financial stability. The coronavirus continues to spread. The US is the epicenter of the pandemic, with over 310,000 cases reported from a global total of 1.22 million. The death toll is at 66,500. At some point, these numbers will become irrelevant, amid the uneven proportion of the tested population in each nation. The American currency appreciated against its major rivals last week, as it’s still the preferred safe-haven, followed by gold. The US ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI was upbeat in March, printing at 52.5, backing the dollar’s momentum ahead of the close. The shared currency remains the weakest, while the Pound is the most resilient to the dollar’s demand. The EUR/USD pair is under pressure around 1.0800 while GBP/USD trades below the 1.2300 threshold, at risk of extending its slump. Commodity-linked currencies ended the week with losses, despite oil and gold settled at weekly highs. Spot gold closed the week at $1,616.20 a troy ounce, while WTI ended at $28.50 a barrel, a two-week high. Cryptocurrencies spent the weekend consolidating in tight ranges near their recent multi-week highs. 

The latest data published by the UK's health ministry revealed that the death toll from the coronavirus increased by 621 to 4,934. The total number of confirmed infections climbed to 47,806, the ministry added and noted that a total of 195,204 people had been tested as of Sunday morning. Earlier in the day, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that the government will be forced to take further action if too many people flout the lockdown rules. British pound The GBP/USD pair closed the week 65 pip lower but the British pound remained strong against the euro with the EUR/GBP pair erasing more than 100 pips.

Iraq's Oil Minister Thamir al-Ghadhban said he was optimistic about reaching a new supply cut deal after having phone conversations with some of his OPEC+ counterparts, Reuters reported on Sunday, citing a statement delivered by a ministry spokesman. "Any new oil deal needs support from key oil producers from outside opec+ alliance such as the United States, Canada and Norway," the spokesman added. Crude oil prices The barrel of West Texas Intermediate gained more than 30% last week to close a little below the $29 handle. 

Saudi Arabia is expected to host the virtual OPEC+ emergency meeting on Thursday and will be delaying the release of its oil selling price until after the meeting is completed, Reuters reported on Sunday, citing a senior Saudi source familiar with talks. "Saudi Arabia wants to avoid a repeat of what happened in March where oil talks collapsed due to lack of Russia's cooperation with the rest of OPEC+ participants," the source added. "Saudi Arabia's delay in issuing may crude prices is an unprecedented measure to allow more time to reach out to oil producers ahead of Thursday's meeting. WTI The barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) closed the previous week 32% higher at $28.80 and this headline could help the WTI start the new week on strong footing.

The total number of confirmed coronavirus infections in Spain rose to 130,759 from 124,736 as of Sunday morning, the country's health ministry reported, per Reuters. The COVID-19 related fatalities increased by 674 to 12,418, compared to 809 reported in the previous day. State of emergency On Saturday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced that they have extended the state of emergency to April 26. However, Sanchez took note of the slowdown in the number of new infections and deaths. "We are at the start of the decrease in the epidemic. We are stronger than we think but we have to endure. With sacrifice, resistance and the spirit of victory," Sanchez said. "Nobody should be mistaken, the Spanish government is going to work for and defend and will never renounce eurobonds because this is solidarity, this is Europe. The determination of the government is total and absolute."