Daily Market Commentary 24th November 2020

European markets opened strongly after some further positive vaccine news, but things soon turned sour, following flash PMI data releases. French flash PMI turned savagely negative, suffering the economic impact of the lock-downs imposed to curb the surge in virus inflections. German Manufacturing PMI expanded but this was not enough to drag composite index,s into positive territory across Europe. The EUR traded 1.1850, while the GBP broke above 1.3300, with possible news of a post-Brexit trade deal with the EU.

The positive news surrounding further vaccine releases were a boon to commodity currencies, but the economic impact of the second wave across Europe and the USA, drove these trade exposed currencies lower. They retreated back to AUD 0.7280, while the NZD held on to 0.6920, after some strong retail sales numbers. The push and pull of vaccine news and surging coronavirus levels, with the economic impact of remedial actions, will continue to drive markets.