The U.S. currency’s demand as an ‘emergency dollar’ could be waning, Deutsche Bank says

CNBC reports that the currency markets are currently facing “multiple cross-currents” amid fears over a potential second wave of coronavirus cases in the world, said Deutsche Bank’s Sameer Goel, who is chief Asia macro strategist.

A “big question” for investors right now over the U.S. dollar is whether it should be trading at a safe-haven risk premium as concerns rise over a potential second wave of virus infections, Goel told CNBC’s “Street Signs” on Monday.

He said that in a potential resurgence of cases, the U.S. dollar could weaken against most of its peers in developed markets, and to an extent, possibly China too.

Since March, investors have been favoring the greenback over its peers in the Group of 10 countries, in part due to “emergency dollar demand” as the world went into a synchronized shutdown to stem the spread of the coronavirus outbreak, Goel said. Investors typically flock to the U.S. dollar in times of uncertainty, in part due to its position as the world’s reserve currency.

“That emergency dollar demand seems to be waning,” he said.

Furthermore, “the exit strategy for the U.S., if anything, looks poorer than it is for the rest of the world,” he said referring to the lifting of lockdown measures and reopening of the economy. “Our mobility tracker suggests that, bulk of Europe, for example, is opening up faster than (the) U.S. is.”