Market sentiment analysis:
- Trader confidence has been hit by the slow rollout of coronavirus vaccines in the EU, by Germany’s extension of lockdown to April 18 and the order that Germans should stay at home for five days over Easter.
- With new cases in France accelerating and Austria postponing the reopening of cafes and restaurants, the US Dollar and the Japanese Yen are strengthening at the expense of many other currencies, including the Euro.
Trader confidence hit by EU virus problems
The US Dollar and the Japanese Yen are benefiting from “risk off” sentiment in the markets caused largely by the EU’s coronavirus problems. Concerns persist that vaccinations have been slow and, in addition, the virus seems to be spreading. That has weakened EUR/USD, GBP/USD, AUD/USD and NZD/USD as well as the same currencies against JPY.
EUR/USD Price Chart, Daily Timeframe (December 1, 2020 – March 23, 2021)
Chart by IG (You can click on it for a larger image)
| Change in | Longs | Shorts | OI |
| Daily | 3% | 3% | 3% |
| Weekly | -8% | 26% | 4% |
In this webinar, I looked at the trends in the major currency, commodity and stock markets, at the forward-looking data on the economic calendar this week, at the IG Client Sentiment page on the DailyFX website, and at the IG Client Sentiment reports that accompany it.
--- Written by Martin Essex, Analyst and Editor
Feel free to contact me on Twitter @MartinSEssex
