All Eyes Refocus on the Dollar as Infections Rise

Investors are shifting gears anew. A steady rise in global infections eclipses the upbeat mood brought by the vaccine hopes.

With this, one of the world’s safest assets is in a constant tug of war from events that lead it to opposing directions.

The US dollar index, which trails the greenback’s performance against other entities in the basket of currencies, edged down by 0.14%. It settled at 92.588 in the latest foreign exchange charts.

Last week, Phizer and BioNTech’s announcement of the 90% efficacy of the vaccine provided timely support to the USD.

However, this is quickly dismissed as the continuing dilemma with the second wave of infections remains among the trader’s top priorities.

In Asia, the USD/JPY pair went down by a modest 0.07%. 

Nevertheless, the pair regained traction from last week’s lows as it stood steady at 104.55. The key support remains clear at 103.

The renminbi followed the downward trend after falling by 0.27%. This came after China reported robust growth in its industrial production that stood at 6.9% for October. 

Similarly, retail sales notched a 4.3% increase, significantly higher than September’s 3.3%. Adding to the good news is a better-than-expected fall in the unemployment rate, which stood at 5.3%.

Meanwhile, the Aussie gained by 0.37%, settling at 0.7295. 

Investors are keeping a close monitor on the update to be released by the central bank’s governor later in the day.

The updates from the monetary agency’s November meeting is also set for release. Consequently, the growing number of infections in the southern state of the country is among the day’s highly anticipated news.

Across the Tasman Sea, the Kiwi gained 0.60% to 0.6885.

Pound Trades in the Green with Brexit Hopes

Elsewhere, in Europe, the sterling pound gained strength with the optimistic development in Brexit woes.

The GBP/USD pair edged up by 0.27% to $1.332 in the latest update. This is one of its highest settlement for the trading day yet.

Hopes for the deal started to emerge after one of the prime minister’s top advisor announced his plan to leave his post. 

This gave the impression that the UK might be ready to give in to the concessions of the European Union.

This development comes ahead of the deadline of the Brexit talks that have been constantly put on delay as both parties fail to reach compromise.

Among the biggest roadblocks include dispute settlement, fisheries, and trade agreements, among others.