The recent pandemic has been the most devastating thing that every single trade has experienced. Every business got impacted by this COVID-19 pandemic. With the closure of various businesses and a huge loss to the stock markets, the trend was really hard to predict during this time. The stock market’s response to the pandemic was full of worries due to the volatility because of the traders who were involved in panic selling out of the falling market fear. The market dropped largely and the circuit-breakers throughout the market generated four times in the month of March itself. In the hope that the stock market will settle down, there was the safeguard pause trading for 15 minutes. 

The volatile trend on the stock market after the pandemic

The pandemic was not common and the market trends were equally unexpected. The market in the US showed some really important and logic-defying performance during this period. With the investments coming down every moment because of the low demands, it was hard to keep the prices of the shares afloat. There was no theory of managing the market during pandemics and evaluating the news coming from economical sources of the country was inflexible. The whole stock market could not completely depend on that news trending from these sources as not every one of them was true. 

The three important phases of the stock market and jump in the overall market

There were three absolutely unique phases of the market during the pandemic. From the very commencement of the pandemic, the rise of the S&P 500 by 3% lasted from January 30 to February 19. Then the market experienced the second phase, which showed a drop of 34% till March 23. After this, in the third phase, 42% upswing was seen from March 23 till the present day. Every phase of the trend discloses a puzzling connotation with the flashing news. This is because the covered market’s reaction is simplified through the reactions of the investors and their related stories. 

Impact on investing due to pandemic

As the pandemic was not an event familiar to the people at all, it was hard for the market investors to predict the situation and pay heed to such news. But as soon as the pandemic news spread like wildfire, the more significant reactions were clear through the market prices that emerged gradually. The impact on investment could be seen as investors restrained from investing more and also involved in rapid sales. 

Is it time to think of hedge funds?

Though the spread of COVID-19 was rapid and it hit the stock market as well, the hedge fund managers tried to get the benefits from those business bodies which can get benefited from lockdown and quarantined situation. So it is pretty safe to think of investing in hedge funds even during this pandemic.

Conclusion

The distressing stock market depression that continued, intense stories of struggle and hardship faced by the businesses caused by the unforeseen lockdown were explicit. Though the US’s stock market was going down by far, it tried to get hold of the situation and established various stock policies to uphold the market.

The New Zealand currency (NZD) woke up to a rude shock on Friday as it began trading lower after reaching the highest level since the last week of January. After an extended surge in time and price, the NZD posted a falling closing price reversal at the top, which is common during an uptrend. It does suggest that selling is greater than buying just below the main top at 0.6629. If this gets eventually confirmed, the closing price phenomenon should trigger that initiation of a 2 to 3-day counter-trend break. As per the last confirmed reports, the NZD/USD was trading at -0.23%.

On the other hand, the surging demand for the US dollar has helped to drive the NZD to lower levels. The USD, along with other so-called safe-haven currencies, were well bid on Friday following the detection of new Coronavirus cases in the US, which undermined any chance of a quick economic recovery. It is alarming to note that more than 60,000 new cases of COVID-19 infections were reported across the country a couple of days back, which has severely dented the confidence of the native consumers to make a return to public spaces.

Financial experts claim that trading through 0.6600 will help to make ineffective the closing price reversal top and thereby initiate the restart of an upward tendency. The minor trend is on the up and it will surely change to down on the move through the last minor bottom at 0.6519 and this scenario will confirm a change in momentum. Going by the closing price reversal on the top yesterday and the early price scenario, the direction of the NZD/USD is going to be governed by the trader reaction to the Thursday’s low of 0.6551.

The US dollar suffered losses against the majority of the currencies on Thursday as rally in riskier assets such as commodities and global equities put a dent in the US currency’s safe-haven status. The Chinese Yuan rose sharply and achieved a four-month high against the much-fancied USD, thereby extending the recent gains. Investors began to increase positions in Chinese stocks in anticipation of the recovery of the 2nd largest economy in the world. However, persistent worries about the Coronavirus pandemic have kept some currency pairs in a real tight range. Still, the USD is increasingly suffering losses as investors prefer riskier bets on long-term economic growth.

It is important to note that the USD fell by 0.3% against the Euro, thereby reaching a one-month low. However, it is expected that the Euro will get a significant boost when Germany releases the export data. Germany is Euro Zone’s largest economy, and financial experts believe that shipments will rebound sharply in May from a substantial decline in the previous month. There were other setbacks in-store as USD fell to a 3-week low against the GBP at 1.2637 and it fell to a 4-month low against Swiss Franc at 0.9365.

On the other hand, the Chinese shares continued with their remarkable spree and ended up with a five-year high during the Asian season. Speculations are rife that there would be further gains in European equities and thus highlighting the enthusiasm for risk-on trades. Although the investors are keen to look at the US’s weekly jobless claims, the USD is set to remain on the back foot for some time now. The star performance of the Chinese currency is a remarkable story. Investors have successfully shrugged off the diplomatic tension between Beijing and Washington to focus on the Chinese economy and the technological sector. While the investors are thinking twice about taking big positions before the traditional season of summer holidays, analysts say that sentiments favor the further decline of the USD as investors try to look beyond the recent and sudden spike of Coronavirus cases in some of the countries.

As the world economy is gradually recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, the US services data provided everybody a zing of confidence, although the dollar suffered losses yesterday. The dollar, against a host of currencies, was at a two-week low. The Chinese Yuan, however, soared with the Chinese equities on Monday and successfully breached the seven/dollar barrier. The sudden surge came when a front-page editorial carried the news that the fundamentalists had laid the carpet for a healthy bull market. The US service industry has also bounced back in a big way with the headline figure of 57.1, which is well ahead of the general expectations around 50 odd.

The FX Analyst at Westpac was very optimistic as he claimed that economies are slowly but surely getting back to normal. Strategists believe that the worst is over, but an overnight recovery is not possible for all.

The rapid spread of the Coronavirus in the last few days has cast doubt over quick recovery. Miami has become the latest hotspot in the US, and Australia was forced to close down the border between the two most densely populated states due to an outbreak in Melbourne. The central bank has pumped in cash in the world’s financial system, but the US dollar’s 50 -day moving average has fallen behind the 200-day average, which is not a good sign at all. The Reserve Bank of Australia is also expected to keep the interest rates at a record low of 0.25%. The Reserve Bank of Australia maintains that the Australian economy is faring better than what everybody anticipated, but nobody should expect a higher move in the cash rate. The main risks for both USD & AUD are the escalating tension between the US and China and fear that partial lockdowns will become more prevalent than before.

With the Euro rising and Yen falling by narrow margins, the US dollar seems to be achieving near level price ranges, even as the coronavirus pandemic is taking down worldwide economies into a whirlpool.

The British pound or sterling, has moved up in a narrow range against the USD but still lagged behind the euro, which continues an upward trend due to an improved German outlook on the economy.

The Yen continues to weaken even as most Asian currencies improve amid speculated recovery in the coming days, due to some high risk, volume, and price stock trading. However, the yuan does not look any promising in the near future owing to recent worldwide developments, which are particularly not in favor of China.

Global currencies have generally taken a hit across the derivatives market and have also impacted the prices of cryptocurrencies, which have seen large trade volumes in recent weeks, owing to panic created by the pandemic.

While investors await the right moment to make critical market decisions on currencies, experts say that recovery expectations are supporting the USD. On the other hand, the Australian dollar and the Swiss franc are seeing upward movements.

However, investors remain cautious against the AUD due to recent and sudden surges in infections leading to the closure of some state borders. And yet, they are surprisingly hopeful about yen and yuan despite a slowed down manufacturing environment, which is but compensated by high trade volumes, and diplomatic tensions of China.

Changing manufacturing cycles, adoption of flexible work policies by companies in most industry segments, and an overall expectation of a financial rebound are factors that hold the reigns of the economy strong in the current situation.

Since March 2020, the Indian rupee was around 74.59 against the American Dollars, but today it has surged by 42 paise and cross the 75 marks and settled at 75.02. This is primarily due to the high hopes over coronavirus vaccine, effective gains in the domestic equities, and poor performance of the American dollars. Numerous broker agencies state that this surge has also happened due to the positive outcomes over the China tensions, good outcomes of the equity market, and high recovery rate from the potential COVID-19 vaccine.

Moreover, the dollar index, which tends to gauge the greenback’s strength against six different currencies, was down by 0.05%, and the current rate is 97.26. No significant economic data is expected to get released, but the sustenance of the dollar inflows helped the Indian rupee move higher rank against the U.S Dollars. In the American economy, the unemployment rate is also decreasing day by day. In June, nearly 4.8 million people got jobs against the previous 2.6 million mark. Consequently, this reveals that unemployment fell from 13.3% to 11.1% in June.

Various broker agencies in India expect that the currency’s volatility may remain at a higher rank, and it could quote between 74.40 and 75.05 marks. From today all the Eurozone will tend to give more focus on the services of the PMI number. On the current basis, the major crosses will be expected to remain low as the U.S markets are shut down due to Independence Day.

With the yen, yuan, and euro struggling to recover from the adverse economic impact of the ongoing global pandemic situation, the US dollar continues to look promising to investors. This despite the fact that President Trump’s administration is yet to come up with a plan to fuel a slowly recovering manufacturing sector and create more employment, even as the US national data pertaining to these are awaited.

Globally, the economy experienced an 11-year low during April this year, with some recovery starting mid of May that continued till the end of June.

The euro remains sidelined even as the European Union awaits data related to manufacturing, retail, trading, and unemployment from Germany. The yen yielded but recovered amid Japan’s speculated plan to announce a state of emergency in response to the pandemic. The pound showed a slight decline on Tuesday, owing to the ongoing Brexit issues. The yuan remained mostly unchanged despite political tensions between Beijing and Hong Kong.

Investors concerned with the trade deficit caused by President Trump’s stance against China, consider the move by the People’s Bank of China to reduce funding cost on small firms, a ray of hope. But in the wake of fresh military tensions with India and declining support from Pakistan, which faces a steep financial crisis in the near future, Chinese economic strategies are speculated to return only short-term advantages.

Most other currencies of the world, including the Australian dollar and the Swiss franc, did not perform as expected. Even with signs of recovery, investors are wary of a possible downward economic rebound if the US, China, and the EU fail to reduce their trust deficit with emerging economies such as India.

FOREX-safe haven currencies made a brilliant come back on Tuesday after a long time just because of the positive predictions about the stock values, which assuredly got a boost. These ventures are only possible because of the economic turnaround, which can be felt in this scenario. When British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced enhancing the public spending, Sterling came under pressure.

On the other hand, the activities related to the housing market, which experienced a plunge during the pandemic, soon recovered in May. This brought into focus the optimistic data of home sales scenario. Contracts signed for the pending home sales increased by 44.3%, which was more than what was predicted by economists. Apart from that, the shares belonged to Wall Street also experienced a sudden increase of 14% in the Boeing part. This is due to the commencement of the series of flight tests that were long delayed of the 737 MAX, which was redesigned.

The dollar showed a steady climb to 107.59 yen, besides touching a three-week record of 107.885. Nevertheless, it was topped by its 100-day affecting average near that mark. The safe-haven Swiss franc relieved to 0.9511 per dollar as well as 1.0697 per euro. This is how the whole process went through in this pandemic situation.

The Singapore Exchange (SGX) made headlines over the stock market with their declaration of buying the stake of 80 percent, which does not belong to them on the BidFX platform of trading. On 29th June, Monday, they came forward with this venture, where they have decided to pay a massive amount of $128 million for capturing the profit gaining market of world trading. They believe that such a crucial decision would technically help in making their presence in the foreign exchange futures. Notably, they would also make the shares obtainable through an over-the-counter setting of the stock market.

From the prediction of the trading market, the potentiality of FX can be determined in the capability through which price discovery, transparency as well as liquidity will be the tools for the market participants to get benefited. This strategy would also help in regulating the benefits of both OTC and the futures trading that are listed over the market in a solo integrated setting.

Singapore is one of the major foreign exchange hubs, which is gaining popularity through the important activities of trading encouraged by development and instability in the currencies of G10 and Asia. To mark the chief growth of the recent quarter, BidFX Systems has made a record volume of trading. Behind this achievement, the involvement of the major clients like regional bankers, asset managers, as well as the prominent hedge funds, must be considered.

SGX’s chief strategy is to make an extensive range of assets available to investors worldwide. For the accomplishment of their venture, external borrowing will be used for financing the deal.