By Peter Nurse
The u.s. dollar fell in early european trade on Tuesday, in a context of optimism about the global recovery, given the positive news on a possible vaccine against the sars coronavirus as well as the continuation of the re-opening of the economies, which led investors to exit this asset shelter.
At 11: 00, the u.s. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, stood at 99,300, a decrease of 0.6%, the EUR/USD rose 0.5% to 1,0960, GBP/USD has gained 1.0% to 1,2302, and USD/JPY has risen 0.1% to 107,75.
Last Monday, the american company of biotechnology Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) announced that it had begun testing a vaccine against the coronavirus in Australia. She waits for the preliminary results of the clinical trial of phase 1 in July and, once the testing is completed successfully, phase 2 will be conducted in several countries, including the United States.
Novavax is one of the many drug manufacturers in the world who are striving to find a way to fight against a pandemic that has infected more than 5 million people in the world.
This follows the news that a decline in the number of cases of the virus has led the japanese government to end its state of emergency, which adds to the growing number of countries re-opened their economy to the extent that the coronavirus is slowing down.
However, the ranges are tight because the United Kingdom and the United States return from their leave on Monday, while investors keep an eye on the tensions between the United States and China and demonstrations in Hong Kong.
“Markets are caught between two currents contradictory,” said Michael McCarthy, chief strategist of CMC Markets. “The growing tension between China and the United States raises concerns, while the relaxation of the measures of locking Covid-19 fueling optimism in terms of growth.”
The chinese yuan, a barometer of relations between the two largest economies in the world, has a little strengthened 7,1324, although it remains near its lowest level in the last two months of 7,1465 reached Friday. The australian dollar was at 0,6623$, up 1.2%, and the kiwi from 1.3% to 0,6178$.
