The continental currency has been on the defensive all week, pressured by growing expectations that interest rates will rise faster elsewhere, especially in the United States.
The dollar was heading to close a fourth consecutive week of gains against its main rivals, capitalizing on the problems of the euro.
The President of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, doubled down on its cautious stance on Friday, saying the ECB should not tighten policy as it could undermine the recovery.
Austria also said it will require all its citizens to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by February, while Germany’s health minister has warned that lockdown could return.
“One thing is for sure: if all of Europe were to be confined again, and depending on how long it lasted, we would have to rethink our growth scenarios,” said Stephane Ekolo of the Tradition brokerage.
The euro has lost more than 1% this week and fell below $ 1.13 on the day, close to the low of $ 1.12630 hit on Wednesday. It also hit lows of more than six years against the Swiss franc, down 0.5%.
The index dollar, which compares the greenback to a basket of six prominent coins, is heading for a weekly profit of around 1%. On the session it was up 0.4% to 95,958 units, close to the 16-month high of 96,266 achieved on Wednesday.
The yen it was up 0.3% against the dollar, to 113.93 units, following the Austrian announcement as traders sought refuge. The currency had weakened slightly after the Japanese government unveiled a new stimulus package for 55.7 trillion yen ($ 490 billion).
Bags of the world
Concerns over slowing growth in China and a surge in COVID-19 cases in Europe complicated the advance of global stock markets on Friday, which struggled to hold on to recent all-time highs, as the euro appeared to be heading for a second straight week. of losses.
Although US stocks closed at record highs on Thursday, thanks to help from the consumer discretionary and technology sectors, optimism faded sharply in the Asian session, as the regional index was poised to end the week with a decline of 1 %.
European stock indices rose slightly in early London trading, although sentiment was more cautious and the volatility measure for European stocks hovered near two-week highs.
“Markets are consolidating after heady dollar gains and bond yields in recent weeks, and investors will turn their attention to preliminary PMI data next week,” said Kenneth Broux, currency strategist at Société Générale at London.
“In the case of the eurozone, instead of inflation, we are going to pay a little more attention to whether the new restrictions due to COVID are already having an impact on service activity,” he added.
Europe has once again become the epicenter of the pandemic, prompting countries like Germany and Austria to reintroduce restrictions in the run-up to Christmas and sparking the debate on whether vaccines alone are enough to control COVID- 19.
MSCI’s broader index of global stocks was less than 0.5% below the record it touched earlier this month, although Asia-Pacific stocks appeared to be heading for a 1% weekly decline.
Stocks in Hong Kong lost more than 1%, weighed down by heavyweight Alibaba, which plunged more than 10% as its second-quarter results fell short of expectations due to slower consumption, increased competition and increased competition. regulatory repression.
Sentiment was pessimistic in foreign exchange markets, with the dollar dominating its main rivals. The greenback advanced 0.3%, while the euro traded near six-year lows against the Swiss franc.
Benchmark US Treasury yields remained stable below 1.60% levels, as investors await the next announcement on the head of the Federal Reserve in the coming days.
The prices of the Petroleum they continued their recent volatility, losing around 1.7% after rising previously.
For his part, bitcoin it was on track to close its worst week in six months, down 20% from its recent all-time highs.
Source From: Ambito
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