The US dollar has regained some of its strength and is trading steady against leading currencies, including the Euro and the Japanese yen as markets cheer news reports about progress in the development of a vaccine for COVID-19. At the time of writing, the US dollar index DXY is trading around 92.66.

Markets are trading with a risk-on sentiment, which has weakened the safe haven currency JPY. Although the US dollar typically makes gains when the risk appetite of markets declines, the news about Pfizer’s vaccine drove gains in US Treasury yields and served to strengthen the greenback as well.

The risk-on sentiment had previously been triggered by news of Joe Biden’s victory in the US presidential election, which helped commodity currencies like the AUD and NZD also strengthen against the US dollar in the previous session. Meanwhile, the Euro weakened against the dollar in overnight trading.

However, moves in the US dollar remain limited as Trump is yet to concede defeat to Biden, maintaining his stance to legally challenge his opponent’s victory. Trump’s campaign is currently planning to rally support for his lawsuits challenging vote counting in states that gave Biden a lead against him.