Several economies laid out back to business plans to ease restrictions despite continued warnings from health experts that there is still too early.
For top medical experts, increased testing is still the most promising strategy to get people and economies back up and rolling.
More U.S. states prepare to ease coronavirus restrictions on businesses that have been closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In Europe, Italy, Spain, Germany and Switzerland are among the countries in Europe starting to gradually wind down restrictions. Not so Britain, where Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it was still too risky.
Investors are laying their hopes for the reopening of the U.S. economy on the potential for wider availability of testing for COVID-19 cases. Recent volatility highlights investor impatience for indications of when state and Federal authorities might start to ease stay-at-home orders.
Some analysts say the improvement in risk appetite thanks to back to business plans is premature since lockdown measures are still in place. They support that it will take time for people to return to their behaviour before the outbreak of COVID-19. Further, some currency traders say they remain wary because threats posed by the virus have not been eliminated completely.
START TRADINGForex – Back to business plans hit dollar
The U.S. dollar fell across the board on Monday on back to business plans which boosted risk appetite and reduced demand for the safe-haven U.S. currency. The dollar fell 0.34% against a basket of currencies to 99.90.
The yen gained after the Bank of Japan expanded its stimulus to help companies hit by the coronavirus crisis. The dollar fell 0.47% against the Japanese currency to 107 yen, the lowest since April 15.
Against the euro, the yen traded at 116.36, close to its strongest in three years against the common currency.
The Canadian dollar strengthened against its U.S. counterpart. The loonie, which last week fell 0.8%, was trading 0.3% higher at 1.4055 to the greenback.
The Australian dollar rose after some Australian states said they would ease social distancing rules this week. The Aussie gained 1.25% against the greenback to $0.6465, the highest since March 12.
The New Zealand dollar gained 0.85% to $0.6070 before its strict lockdown is eased on Monday at midnight.
The euro gained 0.30% to $1.0852. The single currency was also supported after credit-rating agency Standard & Poor’s on Friday reaffirmed Italy’s BBB rating. Many had expected a downgrade.
The pound rose against both the dollar and the euro on Monday. But futures data showed the market turned bearish on the British currency for the first time since December last year.
Against a broadly weaker dollar, the pound was up 0.2% at $1.2411, having touched weekly highs earlier in the day. Versus the euro, it rose around 0.1%, to last change hands at 87.34 pence.
U.S. crude oil futures were down about 26% at $12.50 a barrel on concerns about scarce storage capacity and global economic doldrums.
PLEASE NOTE The information above is not investment advice.
Sources: Reuters, Investing, CNN money