hungarian-forint-bank-notes

The Hungarian Forint (HUF) is pushing higher versus the US Dollar (USD) for the fourth consecutive session on Monday. At the start of the week the Hungarian Forint (HUF) was over 0.7% stronger against the greenback, although this was more of a dollar weakness story rather than owing to a change in fundamental strength in the Hungary.

At 08:30 UTC the USD/HUF is trading at 294.83, well away from the Forint’s record low of 314.00 struck just three weeks away.

US Dollar Plunges In Panic Trading

The US dollar is being hammered across the board. The US dollar plunged in the latter half of the previous week, booking its worst weekly loss in four years as investors flocked towards US bonds, pulling bond yields sharply lower and denting the greenback’s appeal.

Investors completely ignored Friday’s impressive non-farm payroll report. The Labour Department report revealed that 275,000 jobs created in February, well ahead of the 175,000 forecast. The unemployment rate also declined to 3.5% from 3.6%. The stellar report showed that the US economy was on a solid footing.

However, the number of coronavirus cases in the US escalated sharply from the end of February. Investors are panicking over how the outbreak will impact the US economy in the coming weeks and months.

The US stocks markets are expected to open around 4.5% lower amid strong risk off trading.

Hungarian Forint Looks To Inflation Data

The Hungarian forint is trading on the front foot at the start of the week, extending gains from last week. Data on Friday showed that industrial production in Hungary rebounded in January, increasing 2.4% year on year, up from a -1.2% decline in December. The increase did fall short of analysts’ expectations of a 3.9% jump.

Looking ahead, the focus will now switch towards inflation data which is due to tomorrow. Analysts are expecting inflation to slip lower to 4.3% in February, down from 4.7% the previous month. Core inflation, which exclude more volatile items such as food and fuel is expected to tick lower to 3.9%, down from 4%. Declining inflation could dampen demand for the forint as the infamously dovish Nation Bank of Hungary are unlikely to adjust policy.


Currencylive.com is a news site only and not a currency trading platform.
Currencylive.com is a site operated by TransferWise Inc. (“We”, “Us”), a Delaware Corporation. We do not guarantee that the website will operate in an uninterrupted or error-free manner or is free of viruses or other harmful components. The content on our site is provided for general information only and is not intended as an exhaustive treatment of its subject. We expressly disclaim any contractual or fiduciary relationship with you on the basis of the content of our site, any you may not rely thereon for any purpose. You should consult with qualified professionals or specialists before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Although we make reasonable efforts to update the information on our site, we make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether express or implied, that the content on our site is accurate, complete or up to date, and DISCLAIM ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Some of the content posted on this site has been commissioned by Us, but is the work of independent contractors. These contractors are not employees, workers, agents or partners of TransferWise and they do not hold themselves out as one. The information and content posted by these independent contractors have not been verified or approved by Us. The views expressed by these independent contractors on currencylive.com do not represent our views.