EUR/USD Forex Market Holds at New High Despite Continuing US Unemployment

• Euro Holds Two Month High Against Dollar
• European Markets Continue to Remain Optimistic
• GBP/USD Growth Impeded by Possible Rate Change

US markets opened positively again today with the Dow Jones trading up more than 100 points to mark a sustained week of growth for markets. This has generally pushed the forex market into a more positive position as traders move away from the relative safety of the US Dollar sensing more positive times ahead. American unemployment numbers though remaining high, also point in a more positive direction.

Euro Pushing Higher Against Dollar With More Stimulus Expected

The Euro is continuing to hold its ground above the 1.10 mark as traders seem to be looking beyond more negative data coming from the US. An additional 2.1m Americans filed for unemployment last week according to the Labor Department today. This is still a huge number which would be record setting in other times. That said, forex trading seems to have been buoyed more by the 4 million drop in continuing claims. This would appear to illustrate that some Americans at least, are starting to get back to work.

With increasing hopes that the economy may be turning a corner, the EUR/USD market has emerged from a slump through the course of the week. Forex brokers note that there is much more of a risk on attitude than previously. Many hopes have also been carried by the announcement of a fresh 750 billion Euro stimulus package from the ECB. This will help the economy back on its feet as more and more countries continue their staged reopening.

US-China Relations not a Huge Concern

US-China relations appear to be continually worsening as we move toward the weekend. This comes off the back of a controversial national security law passed in Beijing which may pave the way towards less autonomy for the region. This is according to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at least. He has already stated his belief that Hong Kong is no longer autonomous from China. This could in turn cause difficulty in trade between the US and Hong Kong.

These comments though do not appear to have impacted markets at all. European markets continued to trade higher across the board earlier in the day. A positive sign that traders are shifting focus away from geopolitical matters and focusing solely on the economy.

Negative Rates Possibility Hurts GBP/USD

The one major forex market that has fallen back slightly today has been the GBP/USD. Sterling has failed to capitalize on weaker dollar having hit high points earlier in the week. The pound has lost about 2% on the Dollar through earlier trading in Europe.

Much of this loss seems to be stemming from the possibility that the Bank of England will impose more monetary easing measures to help stimulate the UK economy as it battles coronavirus. It is widely expected they will move toward a historic negative interest rate in the week ahead.

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