This long winter, the coronavirus issue has become tiresome indeed, however, investors keep bringing it up, provoking sharp market fluctuations. The new week if February is likely to leave the catalyst in force.
JPY: the demand for the yen may grow
Japan will present a block of interesting statistics - but only at the end of the week. This will include reports on the unemployment rate, basic inflation in Tokyo, retail sales, and the volume of industrial production. Normally, the yen does not react actively to macroeconomy releases but the statistics on retail sales or production can cause an imbalance in the pair JPYUSD and send the yen to 112.00.
Coronavirus: waiting for China's word
The world has started to assess the effects of coronavirus epidemics while the number of new victims is decreasing. Watchers agree that the influence of coronavirus on the Chinese economy will be short-term because the country has resources and conditions for minimizing the damage. The first important portion of statistics will be released on Saturday only: China is preparing the data on the business activity index in the production and non-production sectors of the economy. The currencies of developing economies are ready to react.
USD: ready to renew the highs?
The new week will bring a flow of new statistics for the USD. The USA will release the data on the housing market that will provide for an understanding of buying and credit activity, as well as reports on the volume of the orders of durable goods, the preliminary calculations of the GDP and the spending/income of the US citizens. If any digits are remarkable the EURUSD pair may go to 1.0770 again.
Brent: the price may drop deeper down
AT the beginning of the last week of February, the Brent barrel is falling by 3% to 56.60 USD due to another wave of anxiousness for the spread of coronavirus. The market of raw materials is very sensitive and emotional, and now the market players are obviously worried about something intuitively unpleasant. The data on the raw materials inventory in the USA is mostly bullish, giving hopes that Brent will soon secure around 55-60 USD.
Gold: aiming at 1700 USD
The prices on gold have been impressively stable these last weeks - the rally is clearly aiming at 1700 USD per troy ounce. The attack may happen very soon, while the market is nervous about coronavirus.
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