· Dollar slumps as bears shrug off U.S. stimulus delay
The dollar slumped to multi-year lows against many currencies on Wednesday as currency traders looked past a new delay in U.S. stimulus checks and maintained bets additional financial aid was still likely.
The greenback hit its weakest level in more than two years against the euro, the Australian and the New Zealand dollars.
The greenback also crashed to the lowest in more than five years against the Swiss franc and fell broadly against Asian currencies.
“Our weak dollar call remains intact as we move into 2021,” analysts at BBH wrote in a research memo.
“What happens to the greenback ... largely depends on how well the United States controls the virus in 2021 as well as the outlook for further fiscal stimulus.”
The dollar fell to $1.2295 per euro on Wednesday in Asia, its weakest since April 2018.
The British pound rose to $1.3543.
Against the Swiss franc, the dollar touched 0.8819, the weakest since January 2015.
The dollar fell to 103.27 yen.
Low liquidity may have exaggerated some market moves with many investors away for year-end holidays.
A light data calendar in Asia is also likely to leave traders with little incentive to take out big positions.
The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies stood at 89.759, not far from the lowest in more than two years.
In addition, many investors are already looking ahead to a new government under Biden when he is sworn in on Jan. 20.
Another negative factor for the greenback is expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will keep interest rates low for an extremely long time, many analysts say.
Elsewhere, both the Australian dollar and the New Zealand dollar reached their strongest levels in 2 1/2-years. The currencies are considered barometers of risk appetite because of their ties to global commodities.
The onshore yuan edged up to 6.5227 per dollar.
The Korean won and the Malaysian ringgit also rose amid broad-based dollar selling.
· ‘Bullet has left the chamber’: Biden will not likely roll back Trump campaign against China tech
President-elect Joe Biden is unlikely to reverse President Donald Trump’s challenge to China’s technology industry and companies — but Biden will likely be more targeted in his approach and collaborate with allies, experts told CNBC.
During his presidency, Trump has looked to challenge China’s technology industry through sanctions, executive orders and other actions. Biden will likely continue such a policy.
· The U.S. needs to vaccinate 3 million people per day to hit Covid vaccination goal, doctor says
Dr. Carlos del Rio warned “The News with Shepard Smith” that the effort to vaccinate Americans needs to “change dramatically,” as the United States missed its vaccination goals two weeks after Americans started receiving shots.
“If we’re going to get to have every single American who needs a vaccine and wants the vaccine, vaccinated by July, we need to start vaccinating about 3 million people a day,” said del Rio, who is distinguished professor of medicine at Emory University. “That is a huge effort and it’s going to require a major coordinating effort and it’s going to require funding.”
· California Coronavirus Update: Stay-At-Home Order Extended Until Mid-January; L.A. Hospitals At Breaking Point, State Bracing For Post-Holiday Surge
Southern California will continue in the regional stay-at-home order “until the ICU projections are above or equal to 15%,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly today.
Currently, as hospitals are diverting care and patients are placed in hallways and elsewhere, L.A. County and the rest of Southern California is at 0% ICU capacity.
· Moderna in talks with South Korea to supply about 40 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine
Moderna Inc said on Tuesday it was in discussions with the South Korean government to potentially provide 40 million or more doses of its COVID-19 vaccine.
Potential distribution of the two-dose vaccine in South Korea is expected to start in the second quarter of 2021, the company said in a statement.
· UK house prices rise by most in six years - Nationwide
British house prices rose faster than expected in December to record their biggest annual increase in six years, as tax incentives and COVID-driven appetite for larger homes continued to boost demand, mortgage lender Nationwide said.
House prices rose by 0.8% in December alone, barely slowing from the 0.9% recorded in November, and were 7.3% higher than a year earlier, well above forecasts in a Reuters poll for a 6.7% rise.
· Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine approved by UK regulator
The coronavirus vaccine being developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca has been authorized for emergency use in the U.K., marking another step in the global battle against the pandemic.
The shot is expected to be rolled out next week and will be added to a Covid-19 immunization program started by Britain in December. So far, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has been given to 600,000 people in the U.K., according to government statistics.
In a statement, AstraZeneca said the first doses of the vaccine were being released Wednesday “so that vaccinations may begin early in the New Year.”
It added that it “aims to supply millions of doses in the first quarter” as part of its deal with the U.K. government to supply up to 100 million doses in total. As a two-dose vaccine, the agreement means up to 50 million people in the U.K., which has a population of around 66 million, could be inoculated.
· Norway extends flight ban from Britain to Jan. 2 over coronavirus variant
· China revises 2019 GDP lower with a $77 billion cut to manufacturing
China’s National Bureau of Statistics revised the national growth rate for 2019 lower on Wednesday with major cuts in the manufacturing sector.
The downward adjustment gives the country a lower base from which to report growth for 2020.
GDP last year now rose only 6.0% to 98.65 trillion yuan ($15.1 trillion), versus 6.1% as previously reported, the bureau said.
The primary reason by far was a 503.8 billion yuan ($77.15 billion) reduction in manufacturing, or about 2% of the sector’s original contribution to growth in 2019.
“This suggests the impact of the US-China trade war on China’s manufacturing activity has been underestimated,” Yue Su, principal economist at The Economist Intelligence Unit, said in a statement.
· Tokyo governor warns of possible 'explosion' in COVID-19 cases
Tokyo’s coronavirus outbreak is severe and could explode in the coming days just as Japan begins its New Year’s holiday period, in which millions of people usually move around the country, the city’s governor said on Wednesday.
The capital recorded 944 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, just under the record 949 recorded on Saturday, and medical experts warned that unless the outbreak is checked the city could soon see over 1,000 new patients a day.
· Singapore starts giving Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccine to healthcare workers
Singapore started its planned vaccination exercise with a group of healthcare workers getting the first shots, making the city-state one of the first countries in Asia to begin protecting its population from the coronavirus.
The first healthcare worker vaccinated was a 46-year-old senior staff nurse who carries out screening for suspect Covid-19 cases, according to a statement on Wednesday from Singapore’s health ministry. More than 30 workers will be vaccinated today.
· Oil up on hopes of demand recovery, lower U.S. inventories
Oil gained ground on Wednesday as a U.S. coronavirus fiscal aid package and a decline in crude oil inventories lifted prices.
Brent crude futures rose 35 cents, or 0.7%, to $51.44 a barrel by 0803 GMT and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude added 30 cents, or 0.6%, to $48.30 a barrel.
Crude oil stocks fell by 4.8 million barrels last week to about 492.9 million barrels, exceeding analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a draw of 2.6 million barrels, data from API showed. [API/S]
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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