WHO: Total Coronavirus Cases In China Now At 77,362, New Cases Rose 416 Over The Last 24 Hours More to come....

EUR/JPY struggles to catch a bid on German IFO. EUR/JPY bleeds out as EZ economy seen vulnerable to worsening coronavirus implications. All eyes will be on the ECB in March and the DXY back towards 100. EUR/JPY is trading at 120.03 having travelled between a low of 119.90 and a high of 121.07, firmly in the red by -0.86 due to a blood bath in the stock markets. The coronavirus is the culprit and the spread of contagion fears are gripping investors into a state of fear. Unless we see a sizeable repricing of China-related risk, the situation appears unlikely to change this week and bears can stay in control. What has been interesting of late, and still worth monitoring is how the yen has decoupled from the risk-off trade. We have seen most of the flow head into the US dollar, for sound reasoning, yet the yen has been unable to cash in on risk aversion due to the grim domestic outlook - just look at the latest Gross Domestic Growth figures. In Chart Of The Week, we see a bullish bia..

10-year US Treasury bond yield erases more than 7% on Monday. US Dollar Index slides toward the 99 handle. Wall Street's main indexes suffer heavy losses on flight-to-safety. The USD/JPY came under strong bearish pressure on Monday as the JPY restarted to capitalize on safe-haven flows after struggling to find demand last week. As of writing, the pair was down 1% on the day at 110.45. Heightened worries over the coronavirus outbreak turning into a global epidemic with a number of confirmed infections rising outside of China, namely in Italy and South Korea. Reflecting the intense flight-to-safety, major Asian end European equity indexes closed sharply lower and the 10-year US Treasury bond yield, which was last down 7.5% on the day, slumped to its lowest level since July. Furthermore, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite are down 3.5% and 4%, respectively, as investors show no interest in risk-sensitive assets. Over the weekend, Bank of Japan Governor Ku..

The S&P 500 is trading down sharply as it is on track to record its worst daily decline since August 2019. Bears are eying the 2020 low near the 3200 figure. S&P 500 daily chart The S&P 500 Index is trading is having a strong retracement down below the 50-day simple moving average (SMA). Bulls want to keep the uptrend going and defend the 2020 low and the 3200 big figure. However, failure to do so could see the bears extending the down move towards 3100 and the 3000 figure. On the flip side, a bullish recovery could find resistance near the 3300 and 3350 levels. Additional key levels

AUD/USD is consolidating losses as USD is on the back foot. Resistance is seen near the 0.6630 level. AUD/USD daily chart The aussie is bouncing from one-decade lows while trading well below the main daily simple moving averages (SMAs). The trend is clearly to the downside, however, as USD is losing steam across the board, AUD/USD might be correcting up in the coming sessions. A break above the 0.6630 level can lead to further gains towards 0.6650 and 0.6778 levels. Support is seen near 0.6596, 0.6569 and 0.6548 levels, according to the Technical Confluences Indicator. Resistance: 0.6630, 0.6650, 0.6678 Support: 0.6596, 0.6569, 0.6548 Additional key levels

GBP long positions have recovered almost to their January highs. GBP/USD unable to rally on dollar weakness, is that telling? GBP/USD subject to a long squeeze on trade talk uncertainty and the UK budget. GBP/USD has been trading between a low of 1.2886 and 1.2954, slightly down on the day by 0.22% and despite the US dollar sliding into the lows of the 99 handle. At this juncture, it's all bout March and month-end flows could be one to watch as traders position ahead of key events. First of all, the US dollar has been taking up the headlines, besides the coronavirus, and has been in a whisker of the psychological 100 handle in the DXY index (heavily weighted to the euro). The slide came on Friday following dismal US data having pushed higher for a fourth consecutive week in long futures positioning. Given the robustness of the US stock markets and the US economy and global mark uncertainty, the dollar has been sourced as a store of value this year so far for many investors...

Sharp drop in US Treasury bond yield takes its toll on USD. US Dollar Index drops to 96.20 area after opening with a bullish gap. German IFO Business Climate Index improves modestly in February. The EUR/USD started the new week under pressure with a bearish gap after the weekend reports showed a surge in confirmed coronavirus cases globally, especially in Italy and South Korea. According to Italian news agency ANSA, the number of confirmed cases in Italy currently stands at 229 with 7 fatalities. After sliding toward the 1.0800 handle during the European session, however, the broad-based USD weakness in the second half of the day helped the pair close the opening gap and turn positive on the day. As of writing, the EUR/USD pair was up 0.15% on the day at 1.0860. DXY turns south in American session Although the USD was able to capitalize on risk aversion in the past few weeks, a sharp drop witnessed in the US Treasury bond yields seem to have finally triggered a heavy selloff. At ..

XAU/USD is unstoppable printing fresh 2020 highs as the week is kicking off. The level to beat for buyers is the 1690/70 resistance zone. Gold daily chart XAU/USD is trading in strong bull trend above the main daily simple moving averages (SMAs) as Gold is printing fresh 2020 highs hitting $1689.40 per ounce on an intraday basis. Gold four-hour chart Gold is spiking to the upside as the market is trading weel above the SMAs. The market remains one-sided with bulls firmly in control. The market is looking to extend its gains above the 1690/1700 resistance zone en route toward the 1720 level. Support is seen near the 1660, 1640 and 1610 levels. Additional key levels

DXY is starting the week on the back foot resuming the drop of last Friday. The level to beat for sellers id the 99.20 support. DXY daily chart The US dollar index (DXY) is pulling back down below the 2019 high at 99.67 level. DXY is on the back foot after a long bullish run. DXY four-hour chart The market is pressured near last week’s lows and the 50 SMA. Bears are looking for a break below the 99.20 support and a potential extension to the 99.00 and 98.80 levels. Bullish attempts can find resistance near 99.65 and 100.00 figure. Additional key levels

The economic activity in Texas' manufacturing sector expanded modestly in February with the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas' Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey's headline General Business Activity Index edging up to 1.2 from -0.2. This reading, however, came in worse than the market expectation of 11.8. "The new orders index fell nine points to 8.4, down from a 15-month high in January but still slightly above average," the publication read. "Expectations regarding future business conditions were slightly more optimistic in February. The indexes of future general business activity and future company outlook moved up to 18.0 and 24.1, respectively." USD reaction The US Dollar Index extended its slide after the disappointing data and was last seen at 99.22, down 0.12% on the day.

"For the moment we are not witnessing the uncontained global spread of this virus and we are not witnessing large-scale deaths," World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted on Monday but acknowledged that the increasing number of coronavirus cases outside of China was concerning. "Using the word pandemic does not fit the facts," Tedros added. "We must focus on containment while preparing for a potential pandemic." Meanwhile, Dr Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO, argued it was too early to declare the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. "We are still trying to avoid that reality," Dr Ryan said. Market reaction Markets remain risk-averse following these comments with major US equity indexes losing more than 2.5% and the 10-year US Treasury bond yield erasing nearly 7%.