Early trade in New York: Dollar slips on corona drug optimism, US plans to reopen

The dollar ticked lower on Friday as investors, cautiously optimistic about the results of a drug trial and President Donald Trump's plan to reopen the economy, regained some appetite for risk.

Sentiment was boosted overnight by a media report detailing encouraging partial data from experimental drug trials on severely ill COVID-19 patients at a University of Chicago hospital.

News of Trump's plans to reopen the world's largest economy was also taken by investors as a positive sign, even after Thursday's jobless data showed a record 22 million Americans sought unemployment benefits in the last month.

The overnight moves toppled the dollar, which has closely tracked risk sentiment through the coronavirus crisis, from a week high, with the dollar index last down 0.16%. Other safe-haven assets like Treasury yields were lower, while the S&P 500 index rallied 1.3%.

The dollar also fell against the euro, the British pound and the Canadian dollar, though it strengthened against the Japanese yen and the Swiss franc , other safe-haven currencies. "Stronger risk appetite put a brake on the greenback's rally," said Joe Manimbo, senior market analyst at Western Union Business Solutions.

As the dollar fell, the euro rose 0.41%. The euro has fallen about 1.36% against the dollar already this month, facing its biggest monthly fall since July last year, after hitting its lowest against the Swiss franc in almost five years earlier this week.

Copyright Reuters, 2020

Read Comments