By Gina Lee
Investing.com – The U.S. dollar rose in Asia on Wednesday as the U.S. Federal Reserve unleased a massive new lending program overnight.
But the greenback faces further stress as the release of U.S. retail sales and industrial production figures later in the day reveal the economic damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic-induced lockdowns.
U.S. President Trump said overnight that he aimed to reopen the country by May 1 as daily fatalities fall. But investors are cautious as the president’s top infectious diseases advisor Anthony Fauci warned that the deadline was “overly optimistic”.
The U.S. Dollar Index that tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies slipped 0.03% to 98.91 by 11:21 PM ET (4:21 AM GMT).
But some investors urged caution.
“There’s been a flood of money from the Fed, which is the backdrop behind market moves,” Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets, told CNBC. “Trump has made it clear he wants to lift restrictions, and this is what the market wants to hear, but we are nowhere near the all-clear when it comes to this virus.”
In Asia, the USD/JPY pair was down 0.07% to 107.12 while the USD/CNY pair gained 0.11% gain of 7.0525.
The GBP/USD pair slid 0.12% to 1.2607. Down Under, the AUD/USD pair lost 0.43% to 0.6412 and the NZD/USD pair dropped 0.48% to 0.6075.