Forex Today: Dollar surges on coronavirus-related fears

Here is what you need to know on Tuesday, January 5:

The dollar ends the day on a firm note as coronavirus-related concerns spurred risk-aversion.  Japan, France, Italy and the UK announced more restrictive measures, amid more contagious variants spreading globally- Not only the UK’s coronavirus strain is worrying authorities, but also another one coming from South Africa. Fears are that this last may be resilient to vaccines as it has presented “substantial changes in the structure of the virus’ spike protein,” according to Professor of Medicine at Oxford University John Bell.

EUR/USD topped 1.2300 before easing towards the 1.2250 region. The GBP/USD pair was the worst performer, as it reached the 1.3700 price zone before shedding over 150 pips. Commodity-linked currencies also lost ground against the greenback, although to a lesser extent.

European indexes closed in the green, as throughout the first half of the day, market players were optimistic. Wall Street on the other hand collapsed. Fears were boosted by the outcome of runoff elections in Georgia to take place later this week.

Speculative interest is now cautious about vaccines driving the global recovery in the second half of this year.

 Gold soared. The bright metal trades above $1,940.00 a troy ounce as the US session comes to an end, amid renewed risk-aversion. Crude oil prices were dragged lower by equities, with WTI ending at around $47.20 a barrel.

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