US dollar slips as traders focus on stimulus
New York: The US dollar weakened in late trading on Friday as market participants eyed updates on additional coronavirus stimulus. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, fell 0.59 per cent at 93.0532.
In late New York trading, the euro increased to $1.1825 from $1.1758 in the previous session, and the British pound increased to $1.3038 from $1.2933in the previous session. The Australian dollar was up to $0.7231 from $0.7163, Xinhua news agency reported.
The US dollar bought 105.62 Japanese yen, lower than 106.01 Japanese yen of the previous session. The US dollar was down to 0.9097 Swiss franc from 0.9171 Swiss franc, and it decreased to 1.3131 Canadian dollars from 1.3199 Canadian dollars.
The moves came as US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi continued talks surrounding potential coronavirus relief package.
“In the US, the debate about a new fiscal package that is intended to soften the effects of the COVID crisis continues,” though “the market has pretty much abandoned hope that a major package will be passed ahead of the presidential elections,” Antje Praefcke, analyst at Commerzbank Research, said in a note Friday.