By Gina Lee
Investing.com – The dollar was down on Friday morning in Asia, ending the week by giving up some of its earlier gains.
Investors will continue to monitor the rising number of COVID-19 cases in Beijing and the U.S., with the number of cases stemming from an outbreak at Xinfadi market almost at 200. Simmering U.S.-China tensions will be another focal point in the aftermath of U.S. President Donald Trump warning on Thursday that cutting ties with China remains a possibility.
The U.S. Dollar Index that tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies slipped 0.03% to 97.373 by 12:41 AM ET (5:41 AM GMT), with the greenback trading in a tight range of between 96 and 97.
The USD/JPY pair was down 0.11% to 106.84.
The AUD/USD pair gained 0.12% to 0.6860, with the AUD buoyed after the Bureau of Statistics said earlier in the day that May’s retails turnover has surged 16.3% month-on-month.
Meanwhile, the NZD/USD pair lost 0.09% to 0.6421.
Some investors expressed caution over the AUD’s gains however.
“We’re seeing a few wobbles in commodity currencies as focus is returning to the increasing infections...[with] the key element is going to be whether or not we see governments re-impose lockdown measures,” Kim Mundy, FX analyst at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (OTC:CMWAY), told Reuters,
“We still think the general trend of the global economy improving should weigh on the U.S. dollar and support commodity currencies, we’re just seeing a bit of a pause,” she added.
The USD/CNY pair was down 0.01% to 7.0864
The GBP/USD pair gained 0.03% to 1.2428, with the GBP boosted by the Bank of England’s quantitative easing program announced on Thursday. But investors were concerned that the program could be insufficient to support confidence into 2021.