TOKYO- The US dollar started the week with a soft tone on Monday as investors looked to looming economic data from around the world and US corporate earnings to gauge whether the markets’ guarded optimism on the economic outlook is justified.
The greenback ended its third week of losses on Friday as investors bought into risk-sensitive currencies on bets that the worst of the pandemic’s sweeping impact was over.
US coronavirus cases continued to surge over the weekend, as Florida reported an increase of more than 15,000 new cases of COVID-19 in 24 hours, a record for any state, surpassing a peak hit in New York in April.
“Rising coronavirus cases are not positive but at the moment, markets seem to think that there is still some distance to a situation where an overflow of the medical system will force them to put restrictions on the economy,” said Yukio Ishizuki, senior currency strategist at Daiwa Securities.
Hopes for development of drugs and vaccines for the disease are also supporting risk sentiment as do economic indicators that have so far shown a recovery from lockdowns.
