Yen rises, yuan sinks over China virus anxiety; Aussie gains on strong data

The Japanese Yen advanced and Chinese Yuan plummeted on Thursday, as traders remained cautious on China’s Coronavirus. The Australian Dollar recuperated from previous inactivity over strong employment statistics.

The Safe-haven Yen increased by 0.2%, closing its session with two-week high record of 105.56 per dollar. Yuan underperformed as dollar recorded its strongest activity in two weeks, which traded at 6.9254.

17 deaths were recorded and 600 individuals were diagnosed with the deadly Coronavirus. Such resulted to Wuhan city lockdown, as many believed that the city’s animal market is where the virus originated.  In addition, concerns pressed that this might lead to global emergency as millions of people travel to China  in celebration of Lunar New Year.

“China’s efforts to be transparent is a reprieve for markets, but our suspicion is that cautiousness is likely to remain a near-term theme nonetheless,” said Rodrigo Catril, senior FX strategist at National Australia Bank.

Across the Australian zone, Aussie dollar recovered from underperformance and clocked in 0.5% to $0.6879 after job data disclosed a reduction in unemployment rate which hit nine-month low. It stabilized back to $0.6866 but the strong number of jobs created in December may drive central bank to reduce rates next month.