Forex Today: Sentiment deteriorates, dollar remains pressured

What you need to know on Wednesday, May 20th:

The American currency remained pressured against most major rivals. The EUR/USD pair advanced up to 1.0975, although it finished the day unchanged at around 1.0920, with the greenback recovering some ground amid Wall Street accelerating its slump ahead of the close.

The French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said that the European Union recovery fund proposed by Germany and France, probably will not be available until 2021, deteriorating the positive sentiment that led the way on Monday.

The GBP/USD pair flirted with 1.23 and finished the day at 1.2250.  In the UK, people filing for unemployment surged to 856.5K in April, much worse than the 150K expected, while the ILO unemployment rate for the three months to March unexpectedly fell to 3.9% from 4.0%. The kingdom also announced a new post-Brexit tariffs regime, expected to come into effect from January 2021. The plan includes cutting some tariffs on imports to near zero but will maintain a 10% levies on cars, agricultural products and the ceramics industry.  

The USD/JPY reached 108.08 as the Bank of Japan called for an unscheduled monetary policy meeting on May 22, meant to discuss new measures to support small and medium business. It retreated to 107.70 as equities turn south in the American afternoon.

Gold prices were higher nearing $1,750 a troy ounce. Crude oil prices remain stable, with WTI ending the day around $31.00 a barrel.

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