By Gina Lee
Investing.com – The U.S. dollar was up on Monday morning in Asia as investors braced for a tough quarter ahead.
The U.S. Dollar Index that tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies gained 0.14% to 99.975 by 11:31 PM ET (4:31 AM GMT).
“Hurdles facing optimists are very substantial,” warned Sean Callow, Westpac FX analyst, in a CNBC interview.
“We’re three weeks into a quarter that globally looks as though it’s going to be the worst in many decades. For us, while the momentum may be with risk appetite for a little bit longer, we think it is very fragile and has to pull back very soon.”
The USD/JPY pair gained 0.28% to 107.81.
The USD/CNY pair rose 0.08% to 7.0769 as China’s central bank announced a 20-point cut in its one-year rate to 3.85%.
The risk-sensitive Antipodean currencies reported losses as investors’ risk appetite soured. The AUD/USD pair lost 0.22% to 0.6343 and the NZD/USD pair lost 0.02% to 0.6023.
New Zealand will announce whether it will lift or extend its COVID-19 lockdown later in the day.
The GBP/USD pair dropped 0.18% to 1.2477 as a senior British minister said that Britain is not considering lifting its lockdown the day before.
But some investors are cautiously hopeful that the worst of the pandemic could be loosening its grip on the global economy.
“We are coming into the eye of the storm,” Chris Weston, head of research at brokerage Pepperstone, told CNBC.
“And as the market starts to focus less on virus headlines, or at least will be less sensitive to better news, we will focus more on the lasting effects on the economy and solvency.”