Risk currencies hold steady as investors assess virus fallouts

Risk currencies hold steady as investors assess virus fallouts

Risk currencies steadied on Wednesday as investors evaluated the economic damage that resulted from the outbreak of the China virus. Investors banked on hopes that Hong Kong shares will resume trading after the Lunar New Year break.

As countries increase efforts to contain the spread of the deadly new virus, demand for safe-haven currencies such as the Yen and the Swiss Franc have subsided for now.

The Aussie Dollar traded at $0.6758, which held steady ground during the day and above from Tuesday’s three-month low of $0.6737. The offshore Yuan fetched $6.965 flat compared to its weakest on Monday’s 6.9900 per Dollar.

Meanwhile, the Euro stood at $1.1021 after a two-month low of $1.0998 in U.S. trade on Tuesday.

President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday that China was sure of defeating the coronavirus as it spread across other countries.

“The number of patients and death toll is rising day by day, nor do we know when the vaccine will be ready,” said Daisuke Uno, chief strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Bank.

“Yet, at the very base of market there is underlying optimistic sentiment, limiting risk-off moves,” he said.