Forex Today: Safe-haven flows dominate as geopolitical tensions escalate on Israel-Hamas conflict
|Here is what you need to know on Monday, October 9:
Investors seek refuge to start the week as geopolitical tensions escalate after Israel formally declared war against the Palestinian Hamas group. The US Dollar Index opened with a bullish gap and was last seen trading in positive territory below 106.50. Although bond markets in the US will remain closed in observance of the Columbus Day holiday, the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market will operate at regular hours. Reflecting the risk-averse market environment, US stock index futures were last seen losing between 0.5% and 0.6%.
US Dollar price today
The table below shows the percentage change of US Dollar (USD) against listed major currencies today. US Dollar was the strongest against the Australian Dollar.
| USD | EUR | GBP | CAD | AUD | JPY | NZD | CHF | |
| USD | 0.23% | 0.23% | -0.07% | 0.28% | -0.01% | 0.10% | 0.20% | |
| EUR | -0.26% | -0.01% | -0.31% | 0.03% | -0.26% | -0.14% | -0.04% | |
| GBP | -0.23% | 0.01% | -0.29% | 0.02% | -0.25% | -0.15% | -0.02% | |
| CAD | 0.06% | 0.30% | 0.29% | 0.33% | 0.05% | 0.16% | 0.28% | |
| AUD | -0.28% | 0.01% | 0.00% | -0.29% | -0.25% | -0.15% | -0.05% | |
| JPY | 0.00% | 0.25% | 0.25% | -0.03% | 0.25% | 0.08% | 0.23% | |
| NZD | -0.08% | 0.16% | 0.16% | -0.14% | 0.15% | -0.09% | 0.12% | |
| CHF | -0.21% | 0.05% | 0.04% | -0.25% | 0.06% | -0.21% | -0.11% |
The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the Euro from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the Japanese Yen, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent EUR (base)/JPY (quote).
According to the latest reports, Israeli military has deployed about 100,000 reserve troops near Gaza, while fighting continues in at least three areas in southern Israel. At least 700 people have died after Hamas fired a barrage of rocket from Gaza Strip over the weekend.
Sentix Investor Confidence Index for October will be the only data featured in the European economic docket. In the second half of the day, several Federal Reserve policymakers are scheduled to deliver speeches.
EUR/USD started the week in negative territory and continued to stretch lower in the European morning. At the time of press, EUR/USD was down 0.4% on the day at 1.0545.
After closing the third straight day in positive territory on Friday, GBP/USD turned south on Monday and declined below 1.2200.
Crude Oil prices surged higher and the barrel of West Texas Intermediate jumped above $87 before retreating slightly below $86, where it was still up nearly 4% on a daily basis. Despite the broad-based USD strength, USD/CAD holds steady at around 1.3650 early Monday as the commodity-sensitive Canadian Dollar benefits from rising oil prices.
The Japanese Yen's safe-haven status helps it stay resilient against the USD on Monday, with USD/JPY fluctuating in a tight channel slightly above 149.00.
Gold opened with a bullish gap and was last seen rising more than 1% on the day at $1,852.
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