Japanese Yen gained on Friday. What about Dollar and Euro?

The safe-haven yen climbed up by about 0.1% to 104.71 per dollar, recovering some losses made on Thursday after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that stimulus talks had made progress.

The U.S. dollar was steady against most major currencies on Friday after the last U.S. presidential debate. However, it was headed for weekly losses as traders waited for post-Brexit trade negotiations and a breakthrough in stimulus talks in Washington.

U.S. President Donald Trump was more restrained than in the first debate, even though exchanges focused on the handling of the coronavirus pandemic and personal slights.

The greenback tumbled down by 0.03% against a basket of currencies during the early session in Europe. It traded slightly above of a seven-week low hit on Wednesday. The currency was still lower by about 0.7% for the week.

Investors are hoping that Congress will pass a stimulus package before the election. Such sentiment, along with the confidence that spending would follow, has driven a sell-off in the bond market.

Polls predict a Biden victory, which will probably drive further greenback weakness, as he’s expected to spend more on Covid-19 aid than Trump.

Still, betting markets also showed a small movement in Trump’s favour after the debate. According to bookmaker Ladbrokes, that helped the greenback to strengthen.

How did the Euro and other currencies fare?

Meanwhile, the Euro remained unchanged versus the dollar at $1.1818. The sterling was also steady at $1.3084. The negotiators for the European Union and Britain planned to meet on Friday for negotiations on a last-minute trade deal. That deal could stave off a turbulent finale to the five-year Brexit crisis.

Adam Cole, the chief currency strategist at RBC Capital Markets, stated that the main focus would be headlines on Brexit, the prospects for the U.S. election and fiscal stimulus.

On Friday, Eurozone bond yields tumbled down as business surveys in Germany and France showed the impact of the second wave of coronavirus infections in the EU’s two biggest economies.

In Asia, the Chinese yuan remained strong versus the dollar. Particularly, after an official at China’s foreign exchange regulator announced that it has been more stable than expected. Thus, suggesting the government does not worry about its recent surge.

The yuan has rallied by about 7.5% since the end of May as China led the global Covid-19 recovery. It traded at 6.6884 per dollar in onshore trade, at last, about half a per cent lower of a 27-month peak on Wednesday.