JPY strengthens, while AUD and NZD weaken as investors worry about a renewed surge in COVID cases globally

JPY rose against its major counterparts in the European session on Friday as demand for safe havens increased as new coronavirus cases in the U.S. and some other countries surged, triggering concerns about fresh COVID-19 restriction measures that could stall the economic recovery. Meanwhile, the commodity currencies, such as AUD and NZD, which tend to depreciate in times of decreased risk appetite, fell.

The U.S. reported near 60,500 cases on Thursday, recording its sixth single-day record in 10 days. Overall, the U.S. has 3,118,109 cases of COVID-19, the most in the world, according to the Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering. Deaths in the country increased to 133,291, also the most in the world. The total number of confirmed global coronavirus cases rose to 12,272,098 and deaths grew to 554,989.

Spiking coronavirus cases in the U.S. and elsewhere raised questions about the health of the global economy moving forward. Investors fear that the reintroduction of lockdown measures could blunt the recent improvements in manufacturing production and consumer spending seen in major economies around the world.