Forex Today: Fears boost the greenback in a dull start to the week

Here is what you need to know on Tuesday, January 26:

The dollar appreciated on the back of risk aversion, mainly advancing against high-yielding rivals. The dismal mood was the result of poor macroeconomic data and news related to a new US stimulus package, as President Joe Biden faces opposition from Republican and Democrat lawmakers.  

Wall Street plummeted in the initial hours of trading, but indexes trimmed most of their intraday losses, to close the day mixed. US Treasury yields fell to fresh three-week lows on fears, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note down to 1.03%.

The EUR/USD pair is down to 1.2140, while GBP/USD trades in the 1.3670 price zone, holding within familiar levels. Commodity-linked currencies were also down against the greenback, trading alongside equities.

Gold advanced intraday, but demand for the greenback weighed, with the bright metal ending the day unchanged at $1,855 a troy ounce. Crude oil prices posted a modest intraday advance, but held within familiar levels.

Coronavirus: the UK reported a continued decrease in new contagions and new deaths, and UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that there are early signs the latest measures against COVID-19 “are working.”  Still, there are no intentions of lifting restrictions for now, but on the contrary, tougher measures to travellers are under study.

Additional restrictions are also being considered in the US, as the country reported over 420K deaths since the pandemic started.  

Moderna is analyzing adding booster doses to its vaccine regimen after finding its Covid-19 vaccine was less effective against the South African variant. The vaccine, however, has been confirmed to provide immunization against the UK strain.

Israel continues its massive immunization, and reported a 60% drop in hospitalizations for age 60 plus three weeks after the first shot. The country has already given 3.6 million dozes, with over 1 million citizens having received both shots. A total of 65.7 million shots had been given globally. Delays in  vaccines’ production and delivery continue.

Cryptocurrencies Price Prediction: Ripple, Ethereum & Stellar – American Wrap 25 January