WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. dollar turned in a mixed performance against major peers on Monday with its safe-haven status taking a minor hit as hopes for a coronavirus vaccine boosted risk sentiment.
Encouraging results from Gilead Sciences' antiviral drug remdesivir helped offset worries about the surge in new coronavirus cases worldwide and contributed to dollar's weakness early on in the day. Gilead Sciences reported that remdesivir showed a 62% reduction in the risk of mortality compared with the ordinary standard of care.
And then, Pfizer and BioNTech announced that two of the companies' four investigational vaccine candidates received Fast Track designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The companies also said that they expect to start the next phase of trials as soon as later this month are anticipating enrolling up to 30,000 subjects.
If the ongoing studies are successful and the vaccine receives regulatory approval, Pfizer and BioNTech expect to manufacture up to 100 million doses by the end of 2020 and potentially more than 1.2 billion doses by the end of 2021.
The U.S. has reported more than 60,000 new coronavirus cases for three days in a row, with Florida seeing a record 15,299 new cases on Sunday.
The dollar index, which kept losing ground after a flat start in the Asian session, dropped to a low of 96.27 around mid-morning, and after staying notably lower for the next couple of hours, edged up gradually to 96.54 but is still down from previous close of 96.65.
Against the Euro, the dollar weakened to $1.1345, giving up about 0.4% from previous close.
The Pound Sterling was weaker by about 0.55% with a unit of sterling fetching $1.2551, compared with $1.2621 in late afternoon trades on Friday.
Against the Yen, the dollar was stronger at 107.28, rising 0.34% from 106.92 yen.
Against the Aussie, the dollar was marginally stronger at 0.6939, while against the Loonie, it was up 0.12% at C$1.3608.
The Swiss franc was almost flat at 0.9417 a dollar, after moving between 0.9393 and 0.9438.
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