By Gina Lee
Investing.com – The dollar was down on Monday morning in Asia, retreating from earlier gains. Spiraling global COVID-19 numbers dampened hopes of a quick economic recovery and gave the safe-haven asset a boost earlier in the session.
According to data from Johns Hopkins University, there are now over 10 million COVID-19 cases and over 500,000 deaths globally as of June 29. These numbers indicated that global economic recovery would be slower and more painful than expected.
The U.S. Dollar Index that tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies slipped 0.11% to 97.293 by 12:50 AM ET (5:50 AM GMT).
Some investors raised concerns that the re-implementation of lockdown measures in some U.S. states to curb the spiking number of cases would delay the U.S. economic recovery. California was the latest state to implement such measures on Sunday as some bars were ordered to shut.
“A double-dip U.S. recession is possible if widespread restrictions are re-imposed, leading to a surge in the dollar... lockdowns are the key indicator to watch,” Commonwealth Bank of Australia (OTC:CMWAY) FX analyst Joe Capurso told Reuters.
The USD/JPY pair was down 0.14% to 107.06. Earlier in the day, Japan reported a 12.3% decrease in May retail sales year-on-year.
The AUD/USD pair gained 0.14% to 0.6869 and the NZD/USD pair rose 0.03% to 0.6425.
The USD/CNY rose 0.02% to 7.0786 and the GBP/USD pair gained 0.27% to 1.2366.