FOREX – U.S. Dollar Down Amid Improved Investor Sentiment

By Gina Lee

Investing.com – The U.S. dollar was down in Asia on Tuesday morning as investor risk sentiment improved.

The U.S. U.S. Dollar Index that tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies slipped 0.16% to 100.590 by 11:42 PM ET (4:42 AM GMT) as the United States, Italy and Spain reported falling COVID-19 case numbers over the weekend.

The GBP/USD pair gained 0.3% to 1.2266 even as Prime Minister Boris Johnson was moved into intensive care overnight due to his worsening COVID-19 symptoms.

The USD/JPY pair was down 0.36% to 108.81 as Japan prepared to declare a state of emergency for Tokyo and other big cities later by the end of the day.

“The currency market has remained fairly calm, but there will be more downside for sterling if Johnson’s condition worsens,” Junichi Ishikawa, senior FX strategist at IG Securities, told CNBC.

“The yen will not react much to the state of the emergency, because other currencies are focused on signs that the coronavirus curve is starting to flatten out," he added.

The AUD/USD pair rose 0.51% to 0.6117 as the Reserve Bank of Australia prepares to announce its interest rate decision later today, and the NZD/USD pair rose 0.47% to 0.5958. The two Antipodean currencies also benefitted from the increased investor risk appetite as risk currencies.

The USD/CNY pair lost 0.14% to 7.0808 as Chinese employees returned to work following a holiday yesterday.

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