Forex Today: Dollar starts the week with a strong footing

What you need to know on Tuesday, May 12th:

A slow Monday ended with the dollar generally stronger against its major rivals. The EUR/USD pair eased towards 1.0800, with the shared currency weighed by news that the EU Commission announced on Sunday that it could open a legal case against the German´s Constitutional Court ruling on ECB’s easing programs.

The GBP/USD pair fell sub-1.2300. UK PM Johnson spoke on Sunday on how the UK will continue from here.  His message was confusing, as he actively encouraged to return to work those workers that can’t work from home, but also urged people to stay at home if possible. Staring this Wednesday, people would be allowed to take unlimited outdoor exercise and sit in parks, although foreign visitors to the UK will have to be on quarantine for 14 days at arrival.  

The USD/JPY pair added over 100 pips underpinned by mounting hopes surrounding economic reopenings, and resurgent dollar’s demand. Wall Street struggled with early losses and closed mixed, with the Nasdaq and the S&P ending the day in the green.

Commodity-linked currencies were the worst performers, dragged lower by European indexes, which closed in the red. Gold settled below $1,700.00 a troy ounce. Crude oil prices started the day with a strong positive momentum but failed to retain gains, despite Saudi Arabia announced it would take an additional voluntary cut of 1 million barrels per day in June.

Cryptocurrencies remained depressed after Bitcoin halving