The common current surged forward today. The euro jumped by as much as 0.4% at $1.06225, regaining some of its recent losses. The currency plummeted by 1.4% on Wednesday, suffering its biggest percentage drop in six months. Silicon Valley Bank failed in the United States along with two others, causing much unrest in the markets. Investors feared possible problems in the banking sector worldwide. As a result, they sold the dollar and bought risk-off currencies for a while. Still, the greenback rebounded in the previous session.
The Swiss franc also traded in the red immediately after the greenback’s fall. But this safe-haven currency declined on Wednesday. Despite that, it managed to rise again today. The Swiss central bank announced that it would support Credit Suisse. This step cheered the traders ahead of the ECB meeting. The European Central bank will set its interest rates on the latter.
On Thursday, the Swiss lender (CSGN.S) stated that the Swiss National Bank would lend it up to $54 billion. These funds will help the company to increase liquidity, as well as bolster investor confidence. Considering that its shares tumbled by as much as 30% on Wednesday, this news was very welcome. As a result, the Swiss franc rallied, gaining 0.92% against the greenback. It exchanged hands at 0.9248 at last. The currency shaved off 2.15% versus the USD, though; thus far, it only recovered some of these losses.
Meanwhile, the incoming ECB meeting remains in focus
The European Central Bank’s meeting is due later on Thursday. It will announce its new monetary policy. The ECB initially planned to increase interest rates by a 50-basis point. But given the market’s volatility, it might revise that decision.
Francesco Pesole, the FX strategist at ING, noted that while high inflation supports a 50bp rate hike in March, recent turmoil caused by the U.S. banks’ collapse is against it. The chance of such a high increase is only 50%.
The safe-haven Japanese yen continued rallying in Asia even as traders’ sentiment improved. On Thursday, the U.S. dollar dropped by 0.5% versus the yen, exchanging hands at 132.77. The currency shaved off 3.7% since March 8, when it traded near a three-month peak.
The British Pound also soared by 0.3% to $1.20890 today. Meantime, the dollar index plummeted by 0.34% to 104.29 against the basket of six major currencies.
South Africa’s rand skyrocketed by 0.7%, recovering some of its losses from the previous session. At the same time, the Russian rouble plunged towards its lowest point versus the dollar in almost 11 months.
