Euro Falls on Coronavirus Fears, Ignores Upbeat German IFO Data

The  euro today gapped lower against the  US dollar to  start of  the  week trading with a  bearish bias amid the  risk-off market sentiment created by  coronavirus headlines. The EUR/USD currency pair oscillated between gains and losses during today’s session as bears fought to control the pair’s price despite the upbeat German macro reports.
The  EUR/USD currency pair ended up trading in  a  wide range marked by  a  high of  1.0842 and  a  low of  1.0805 and  was within this range at  the  time of  writing.
The  currency pair gapped lower at  the  start of  the  Asian session as  traders sold the  riskier assets in  the  face of  new coronavirus infections. News reports over the  weekend indicated that the  virus had spread to  more countries including Italy, Iran and  South Korea, which could trigger a  global pandemic. The  pair opened lower but quickly rallied before entering a  sustained decline in  the  Asian session. The  release of  the  upbeat German IFO business climate index for  February triggered a  brief spike by  the  pair. The  IFO current assessment and  future expectations prints also beat consensus estimates pushing the  pair higher.
However, the  pair quickly retreated as  the  greenback surged higher as  tracked by  the  US Dollar Index, which hit a  high of  99.64. The  pair remained susceptible to  news headlines given the  lack of  major releases from both the  European and  American dockets.
The  currency pair’s future performance is likely to  be affected by  news headlines and  tomorrow’s German GDP data.
The  EUR/USD currency pair was trading at  1.0817 as  at  13:13 GMT having fallen from a  high of  1.0842. The  EUR/JPY currency pair was trading at  120.49 having dropped from a  high of  121.06.

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