Safe
havens rose during Tuesday's trading as Apple's warnings of the impact of the
coronavirus on its sales rattled markets and dimmed demand on risky assets despite
the decline in the number of Coronavirus infected cases for the first time
since January this year.
Safe assets such as gold and Japanese yen, as well as
the Swiss franc and cryptocurrencies, rose against major currencies, against
the backdrop of tensions associated with the Coronavirus and fears of the
accompanying impact of the virus on the global economy.
iPhone maker Apple Inc predicted that the company is
unlikely to meet its sales target for the quarter ending March, due to the
impact of corona on production and demand in China.
Apple told investors late on Monday that its
manufacturing facilities in China, which produce iPhones and other electronic
devices, have begun to resume work, but the return to work has come at a slower
pace than previously expected.
Apple’s share is currently down by 5 percent at 285
euros in Frankfurt, as European traders negatively reacted to last night’s
warning.
As of 07:58 GMT, spot gold hovered around $1,591.55 an ounce,
where the precious metal hit the highest level today at $1,592.05, the highest
level since February 3.
The U.S. dollar fell 0.14 percent against the yen to
trade at 109.72, while hitting the lowest level during the session at 109.66,
which is the lowest level since February 10.
Against the Swiss franc, the dollar shaved 0.01
percent to 0.9806, while the dollar index, which measures greenback movements
against a basket of major currencies, rose 0.09 percent to 99.07, hitting the
highest level since October 10th of 2019 at 99.13.
Regarding cryptocurrencies, recently considered as safe
harbors, continued their positive performance, as Ripple rose 3.18 percent and Ethereum
augmented more than 6.6 percent, while the Bitcoin was 0.10 percent down at
$9,789.10, according to CoinMarketCap.
As for the latest
updates about the Coronavirus, the number of new coronavirus infections in
China dropped to less than 2,000 on Tuesday, as the National Health Committee
reported that the rapidly spreading virus killed 98 people in China on Monday,
bringing the total number of deaths to 1,868.
