US Dollar Rises as Markets Worry About Global Impact of Coronavirus

The US dollar is trading steady on Thursday over mounting worries that the coronavirus outbreak could turn into a global pandemic as a higher number of new cases was reported from other countries than from China on Wednesday. At the time of writing, the US dollar index is trading at around 98.97.

The dollar has made gains against the Japanese yen and the British pound helping sustain the bullishness, although the euro manage to hold steady against the dollar in the previous session. Forex markets are mostly seeing narrow trading ranges over the rising uncertainty of the extent of the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak.

Although the US dollar did manage to lose some ground over the past few sessions, a renewed interest among buyers for US treasuries helped strengthen the currency, increasing its preference against other safe haven currencies like the Japanese yen and the Swiss Franc. The yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury notes slid lower for the second consecutive session as markets worried about the global impact of the coronavirus.

Later today, the US dollar could see some moves following the release of important economic data, including durable goods orders and the GDP figures.