AIRLINK 172.80 Decreased By ▼ -2.93 (-1.67%)
BOP 13.27 Increased By ▲ 0.15 (1.14%)
CNERGY 7.40 Decreased By ▼ -0.14 (-1.86%)
FCCL 43.60 Decreased By ▼ -0.31 (-0.71%)
FFL 14.87 Decreased By ▼ -0.14 (-0.93%)
FLYNG 26.49 Decreased By ▼ -0.41 (-1.52%)
HUBC 129.80 Decreased By ▼ -0.43 (-0.33%)
HUMNL 13.22 Decreased By ▼ -0.12 (-0.9%)
KEL 4.45 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-1.11%)
KOSM 6.04 Decreased By ▼ -0.02 (-0.33%)
MLCF 55.39 Decreased By ▼ -0.64 (-1.14%)
OGDC 212.20 Decreased By ▼ -2.57 (-1.2%)
PACE 5.91 Decreased By ▼ -0.07 (-1.17%)
PAEL 41.04 Increased By ▲ 0.14 (0.34%)
PIAHCLA 16.21 Decreased By ▼ -0.11 (-0.67%)
PIBTL 9.58 Decreased By ▼ -0.17 (-1.74%)
POWER 11.52 Decreased By ▼ -0.24 (-2.04%)
PPL 178.20 Decreased By ▼ -3.28 (-1.81%)
PRL 33.49 Decreased By ▼ -0.73 (-2.13%)
PTC 22.82 Decreased By ▼ -0.24 (-1.04%)
SEARL 94.45 Decreased By ▼ -1.27 (-1.33%)
SILK 1.17 Increased By ▲ 0.03 (2.63%)
SSGC 34.94 Decreased By ▼ -0.51 (-1.44%)
SYM 15.75 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
TELE 7.79 Decreased By ▼ -0.08 (-1.02%)
TPLP 10.86 Decreased By ▼ -0.12 (-1.09%)
TRG 60.90 Increased By ▲ 0.40 (0.66%)
WAVESAPP 10.69 Decreased By ▼ -0.12 (-1.11%)
WTL 1.33 Decreased By ▼ -0.02 (-1.48%)
YOUW 3.80 Increased By ▲ 0.03 (0.8%)
BR100 12,019 Decreased By -35.1 (-0.29%)
BR30 36,238 Decreased By -228.7 (-0.63%)
KSE100 113,757 Decreased By -599.4 (-0.52%)
KSE30 35,066 Decreased By -281.6 (-0.8%)

NEW YORK: The dollar slipped against several of its major counterparts on Wednesday, as easing concerns about the economic hit from the Omicron COVID-19 variant helped support riskier currencies, with the Australian dollar on pace to notch a third straight session of gains.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, slipped 0.2% to 96.06. The index remains close to the 16-month high hit late last month.

“Concerns about Omicron appear to be fading slightly, particularly as increasing - albeit unconfirmed - data emerges pointing to infections caused by the new variant being milder than previously thought,” Michael Brown, senior analyst at payments firm Caxton, said in a note.

Investors’ appetite for riskier assets improved this week amid reports that people infected with the Omicron variant in South Africa had only shown mild symptoms.

Preliminary evidence indicates that the new variant likely has a higher degree of transmissibility but is less severe, top US infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said on Tuesday.

Commodity-linked currencies, including the Australian dollar, were the main beneficiaries of the improved risk sentiment.

The Aussie dollar was 0.5% higher at $0.7152, its highest level in a week.

The recent move by China - a major Australian trading partner - to stimulate its slowing economy was also supportive of the Australian currency, Caxton’s Brown said.

The Canadian dollar was largely unchanged after the Bank of Canada held its key overnight interest rate at 0.25%, as expected, and maintained its guidance that a first hike could come as soon as April 2022.

The Norwegian crown rose about 1.5% against the US dollar, helped by an improved risk sentiment and steady oil prices.

The pound fell 0.4% to a 2021 low and British stocks briefly sank into negative territory on Wednesday after reports that the UK government was set to announce new COVID-19 restrictions prompted investors to dump riskier assets.

Comments

Comments are closed.