NEW YORK: The safe-haven Japanese yen and Swiss franc strengthened on Friday, as the threat of a new Covid-19 wave in the United States and Europe chilled the increased risk appetite that had been driven by promising vaccine news earlier this week. At 104.72 yen, the dollar had lost 0.32% against the Japanese currency on Friday morning in New York. The yen dropped around 2% versus the dollar on Monday. The Swiss franc firmed to 0.9132 against the dollar, after trading at 0.9192 mid-week.

The dollar slipped 0.18% against a basket of currencies. The euro was up 0.17% at $1.1824. But the Australian dollar - a liquid proxy for risk and global economic growth- picked up. It was up 0.26% on the day at 0.7251 versus the dollar. The New Zealand dollar was down 0.06% versus the dollar at 0.6834, but still up on the week after jumping to its highest since March 2019 after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's meeting on Wednesday.