WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. dollar retreated after displaying some strength earlier in the session on Monday, amid rising concerns about global growth after the coronavirus spread rapidly outside China.
The dollar recovered after easing into the negative territory, but was still finding it tough to move up any significantly above the flat line.
The dollar index, dropped to a low of 99.11 from around 99.60, and was last seen at 99.28, up slightly from previous close.
Against the Euro, the dollar was down marginally at $1.0856, recovering from $1.0874. Earlier in the day, the dollar was up more than 0.4% at $1.0808.
Germany's business confidence improved in February, reports said citing survey data from the ifo institute. The business climate index rose to 96.1 in February from 96.0 in the previous month. The score was above the forecast of 95.3.
The assessment of current situation weakened from last month, while expectations improved in February.
The current conditions index came in at 98.9 in February versus consensus of 98.6. At the same time, the expectations index rose to 93.4 compared to economists' forecast of 92.1.
Against British Pound Sterling, the dollar strengthened to $1.2928, gaining more than 0.2%.
The Japanese Yen gained on safe-haven appeal, strengthening to 110.72 a dollar, from 111.56 yen a dollar on Friday.
The Aussie was weak against the dollar at 0.6604. Against Swiss franc, the dollar was little changed at 0.9786, while it was stronger by nearly 0.5% at 1.3288 against the loonie, riding on sliding crude oil prices.
According to Chinese officials, the coronavirus has killed 2,592 people in China and infected 77,150 people.
South Korea has raised its coronavirus alert to the 'highest level' for the first time in a decade, following a rapid spike in cases over the weekend. Reports say the total number of cases so far in South Korea has risen to 763.
Italy became Europe's epicenter for coronavirus cases over the weekend. Iran has confirmed an uptick in infections.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization said it is worried about the growing number of cases without any clear link to China.
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