Risk-off trading conditions support USD

Cate Camerota

April 21, 2020

Risk-off trading conditions support USD, Greenback strengthens overnight

The plunge in oil keeps markets on edge and maintaining a risk-off sentiment. In reaction to this, the USD strengthened against all peers outside of the Japanese yen while commodity currencies including the Norwegian krone, New Zealand kiwi and Australian dollar all fell. President Trump announced that he will sign an executive order that will temporarily suspend immigration in an attempt to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

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FX Rates
April 21, 2020

Rates are not real time. Rates are today's indicative mid-market rates as of time of publishing, which may vary. Please contact SVB for a current quote.

EUR/USD 1.0834
GBP/USD 1.2278
USD/CAD 1.4215
AUD/USD 0.6263
USD/JPY 107.7500
USD/CNH 7.1068
USD/ILS 3.5592
USD/MXN 24.3778
USD/CHF 0.9712
USD/INR 76.8338
USD
The US dollar strengthened overnight as markets maintain risk-off sentiment. President Trump tweeted late Monday night that he would sign an executive order to temporarily suspend immigration in an effort to contain the spread of the virus.
GBP
Sterling fell to lowest levels since April 8, declining 1%. The pound weakened on renewed concern around Brexit risks and poor jobless data.
EUR
EUR/USD is trading lower on US dollar strength but stays around the 1.08 handle. If EUR/USD breaks below 1.08, the next level of support is at 1.0770.
CAD
USD/CAD trading above 1.42 as crude oil prices plunge and US dollar strengthens across the board. The currency pair hit a two-week high of 1.4265.
ASIA/PACIFIC
Reserve Bank of New Zealand Governor Adrian Orr stated that the central bank would re-evaluate the need for additional stimulus during its May review causing NZD/USD to move lower by over 1%. The Australian dollar also weakened almost 1% after comments from the Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe stating that national output and income is likely to experience its biggest contraction since the 1930s. USD/JPY dropped slightly, maintaining a range of 107.28 – 107.79.

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Contact your respective SVB FX Advisor or the SVB FX Advisory Team at fxadvisors@svb.com.
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Source: Bloomberg

This article is intended for U.S. audiences only.

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WRITTEN BY

Cate Camerota

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