US Dollar (USD) Sinks on Heightened Fed Rate Cut Fears

Published: 26 Feb at 2 PM Tags: Euro, Dollar, Pound Sterling, America, UK, Eurozone, Australian Dollar, New Zealand Dollar, Canadian Dollar, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, China, Germany, Switzerland,

Pound Sterling (GBP)

The Pound (GBP) fell against many of its peers today as post-Brexit trade talks between the UK and the EU continue to come under strain.

This follows comments by Michel Barnier, the European Union’s Chief Brexit negotiator, who said that he expects trade talks to be ‘very difficult’. Sterling continues to sink on heightened fears of the UK leaving the EU without a deal at the end of the Brexit transition period later on this year.

US Dollar (USD)

The US Dollar (USD) has remained subdued today after the odds of a rate cut from the US Federal Reserve have continued to increase.

Joe Manimbo, Senior Market Analyst at Western Union Business Solutions, comments:

‘The potential for the economic fallout from [the coronavirus] to wash up on U.S. shores has cooled the dollar’s rally to three-year peaks by knocking Treasury yields to multi-year lows and raising expectations for the Federal Reserve to deliver more interest rate cuts to keep the record-long expansion intact.’

Euro (EUR)

The Euro (EUR) has benefited from its negative-correlation with the US Dollar (USD) today, with traders fleeing the ‘Greenback’ for the single currency’s safe-haven status as fears rise that the coronavirus could develop into a pandemic.

However, the single currency’s gains are expected to be short-lived with fears that the German economy – which is the largest in the Eurozone – could face a recession in the first-quarter of 2020.

Australian Dollar (AUD)

The risk-sensitive Australian Dollar (AUD) has continued to fall as concerns continue to grow over the Chinese economy, with fears that the coronavirus outbreak could considerably weaken the world’s second-largest economy in the first quarter.

As China is Australia’s largest trading partner, this has left many investors seeking out safe-haven currencies like the US Dollar, Swiss Franc and single currency instead.

New Zealand Dollar (NZD)

The New Zealand (NZD) has also continued to suffer from risk-off market sentiment today, with concerns rising over the coronavirus epidemic harming the New Zealand economy in the near-term.

‘Kiwi’ traders will be awaiting today’s release of January’s NZ trade balance report. Any signs of improvement, however, could provide NZD with a much-needed boost.

Canadian Dollar (CAD)

The Canadian Dollar (CAD) also struggled today due to dwindling oil prices amid fears of a global coronavirus pandemic.

With Canada’s economy being heavily oil-correlated as well as being reliant on global trade, ‘Loonie’ traders are becoming increasingly concerned for the health of the Canadian economy going forward.

As of Wednesday, 26th February 2020, the Pound Sterling currency rates mentioned within this news item were as follows:

GBP EUR exchange rate was 1.1859, GBP USD exchange rate was 1.2905, GBP AUD exchange rate was 1.9712, GBP NZD exchange rate was 2.0525, GBP CAD exchange rate was 1.7217, GBP CNY exchange rate was 9.0859, and GBP CHF exchange rate was 1.2602.

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