Early on Monday, the Euro has slipped against the US dollar over mounting worries about the spread of the coronavirus into European region after Italy reported a spurt in the number of infected cases. At the time of writing, EUR/USD is trading at around 1.082.

The WHO has already sounded a warning about the spread of cases internationally with no direct link to the ongoing epidemic taking place within China. Additional weakness in EUR/USD was driven by the recent strengthening in the US dollar, which continues to find takers amid heightened uncertainty in global markets.

Following the release of a better than expected German Ifo business climate figure, EUR/USD did witness a sharp spike upwards, but the reigning risk-off sentiment surrounding coronavirus has since pushed this pair lower. Germany’s Ifo business climate index rose to 96.1 during February from 95.9 in the previous month, and beat economists’ expectations for a lower reading of 95.3 instead.