By Gina Lee
The U.S. dollar inched up in Asia on Monday as cities hard hit by the COVID-19 virus reported a decline in fatalities over the weekend.
But Friday’s report of a 701,000 reduction in U.S. non-farm payrolls put a damper on investor expectations as the economic damage from pandemic-induced lockdowns becomes apparent.
The U.S. Dollar Index Futures that tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies gained 0.12% to 100.795 by 10:40 PM ET (3:40 AM GMT).
The GBP/USD pair gained 0.13% to 1.1656 as Prime Minister Boris Johnson was hospitalized for tests on Sunday.
The USD/JPY pair flattened earlier losses, gaining 0.42% to 108.92 even as the country is expected to declare a state of emergency by Tuesday.
“When a head of state or government is stricken like this, it will cause concern for holders of sterling and sterling assets,” said Masafumi Yamamoto, chief currency strategist at Mizuho Securities, told CNBC.
“Coronavirus cases in Japan may not peak for another month, so the markets will think that now it’s Japan’s turn. A state of emergency is necessary, but this could be yen negative,” he added.
Down Under, the AUD/USD pair gained 0.38% to 0.6018 and the NZD/USD pair gained 0.07% to 0.5872.
The USD/CNY pair was unchanged at 7.0928. Chinese stock markets are closed today for a public holiday.
