· The yen rose from a three-week low against the dollar on Thursday as investors sought safe havens after China’s Hubei province, the epicentre of a coronavirus outbreak, reported a sharp jump in the number of new cases.
The Chinese yuan slipped against the dollar as the latest update on the spread of the virus provided a grim reminder to investors of the threat to the global economy, that has shaken markets in recent weeks.
The yen rose 0.2% on Thursday to 109.89 yen, pulling back from its weakest since Jan. 21.
In the onshore market, the yuan slipped 0.13% to 6.9809 per dollar, while offshore the Chinese currency gave up 0.14% to 6.9830.
The Australian dollar, widely used as a proxy for risk on Chinese assets, fell 0.22% to $0.6724, while the New Zealand dollar dipped 0.2% to $0.6453.
· Elsewhere in the currency market, the dollar traded at $1.0868 per euro, close to its strongest level in more than two years due to growing optimism about the health of the U.S. economy.
The pound was little changed at $1.2955, having managed to inch away from 2-1/2-month lows hit at the start of the week due to encouraging economic data. But, investors remain anxious over the tough line taken by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson over trade talks with the European Union.
CORANAVIRUS OUTBREAK
· Death toll jumps by 242 in Hubei province while the global death toll from coronavirus rises to 1,357
The Hubei health authority reported that 242 more people died from the coronavirus in Hubei province on Wednesday, raising the death toll in the epicenter since the beginning of the outbreak to 1,310.
This brings the total number of deaths in mainland China to at least 1,355. The global death toll is at least 1,357, with one death in Hong Kong and another in the Philippines.
Hubei authorities confirmed an additional 14,840 cases of the virus in Hubei on Wednesday, which brings the total number of cases in the epicenter of the outbreak to 48,206. The 14,840 figure includes both test confirmed cases and clinically diagnosed cases.
The government explained they are now adding "clinically diagnosed cases" in the tally of cases to make it easier for these patients to receive treatment early.
There have been 33,693 patients hospitalized in Hubei, including 1,437 who are in critical condition, according to the health authority, adding that 3,441 patients have recovered and been discharged.
By the numbers: The global number of confirmed coronavirus cases has now exceeded 60,015 with the vast majority of cases in mainland China.
China’s National Health Commission is expected to release numbers for all of China’s provinces later.
· The Chinese province at the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak reported a record rise in the death toll on Thursday under a new diagnostic method, and Beijing sacked two local leaders after criticism of their handling of the crisis.
Reports in state-run media said provincial Communist Party boss Jiang Chaoliang had been sacked as secretary of the Hubei Provincial Committee, and Ma Guoqiang had been removed as party chief in the provincial capital Wuhan.
Hubei had previously only allowed infections to be confirmed by RNA tests, which can take days to process. RNA, or ribonucleic acid, carries genetic information allowing for identification of organisms like viruses.
Using quicker CT scans that reveal lung infections would help patients receive treatment as soon as possible and improve their chances of recovery, the Hubei health commission said.
The new diagnostic procedure could explain the spike in the death toll, according to Raina McIntyre, head of biosecurity research at the Kirby Institute at the University of New South Wales in Sydney.
· China’s Hubei province, the epicenter of the country’s coronavirus outbreak, said on Thursday it would extend a work suspension and asked all enterprises not to reopen before the end of Feb. 20.
The local government made the announcement in a statement on its website.
· The Japanese government said Thursday it will let elderly passengers suffering chronic illnesses disembark earlier than scheduled from a coronavirus-hit cruise ship quarantined at Yokohama if they test negative for the virus.
It also said 44 more people on the ship have been confirmed as infected with the pneumonia-causing virus originating in the Chinese city of Wuhan. Of the 247 infections in Japan, 218 are passengers and crew from the ship.
· U.S. CPI expected to repeat in January
The Bureau of Labor Statistics will release the consumer price index (CPI) for January on Thursday, February 13th at 13:30 GMT. Joseph Trevisani from FXStreet with the preview.
“The consumer price index (CPI) is expected to add 0.2% in January as it did in December. Annual inflation will be 2.4% in January following 2.3% in December. Core inflation is projected to rise 0.2% in January after December’s 0.1% gain and to be 2.2% from 2.3%.”
“Inflation in not a driver of current Fed rate policy and such its impact on the dollar is minimal.”
“Within the 1.6%-2.4% range of core CPI the governors are no more disposed to cut rates at the bottom or raise rates at the top.”
· Auto sales in China are expected to fell for a 19th consecutive month in January, with the number of new energy vehicles (NEVs) sold contracting for a seventh month in a row, data from the country’s biggest auto industry association showed on Thursday.
Total auto sales in the world’s biggest auto market are expected to fall 18% from the same month a year earlier, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said.
The industry is bracing for the impact of a coronavirus epidemic that has killed more than 1,100 people by Feb. 12.
Local governments began imposing travel curbs and warning residents to avoid public spaces in the last two weeks of January, and industry executives said the epidemic was likely to wreak havoc on auto sales and production in the first quarter.
· Oil prices were mixed on Thursday as concerns about falling demand caused by travel restrictions tied to the coronavirus outbreak in China, the world’s biggest oil importer, outweighed expectations of supply cuts from major producers.
Brent crude LCOc1 fell 6 cents, or 0.1%, to $55.73 per barrel at 0735 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) CLc1 was up 5 cents, or 0.1%, to $51.22 a barrel. Brent rose 3.2% on Wednesday while WTI gained 2.5% as a slowdown in new Chinese coronavirus cases boosted expectations of a demand recovery.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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