WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. dollar stayed weak against most of its peers during much of the trading session on Friday, after President Donald Trump's plan of re-opening the country in a phased manner resulted in improved risk appetite and dimmed the currency's safe-haven appeal a bit.
Trump's 18-pad plan for 'Opening Up America Again' outlined three 'phases' in which governors could begin reopening various businesses and venues on their own timelines.
Trump said on Thursday that some less-infected states could remove their restrictions before May 1. The guidelines say that the number of cases and positive tests in a state or region should be declining in order to reopen.
'America wants to be open and Americans want to be open,' Trump said. 'A national shutdown is not a sustainable long-term solution.'
The dollar index, which dropped to 98.62 in morning trades, later edged up to 99.75, but was still trailing previous close by about 0.27%.
Against the Euro, the dollar weakened to $1.0876 from $1.0839.
Against Pound Sterling, the greenback dropped to $1.2522, before regaining some lost ground. Still, at $1.2503, is was notably lower from Thursday's $1.2458.
The safe-haven yen firmed up to 107.57 a dollar, advancing from 107.92 on Thursday.
The Aussie was gaining notably at 0.6364 a dollar, while the loonie was up nearly 0.5% at C$1.4015 a dollar. The Swiss franc was up as well, firming up to 0.9672, gaining about 0.32% from previous close.
A report released by the Conference Board on Friday showed its index of leading U.S. economic indicators registered the largest decline in its 60-year history in the month of March.
The Conference Board said its leading economic index plunged by 6.7% in March after dipping by a revised 0.2% in February.
Economists had expected the index to plummet by 7% compared to the 0.1% uptick originally reported for the previous month.
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