WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After spending much of the day's session in the red, the dollar index turned mildly positive in the final minutes of the session on Friday.
Worries about rising coronavirus cases and growing uncertainty about the pace of economic recovery triggered the demand for the safe-have currency.
Coronavirus cases spiked in France. According to reports, the country registered close to 10,600 new cases on Thursday. Spain is battling a resurgent second wave of Covid-19, although the mortality levels are far lower than they were in spring.
The regional director of The World Health Organization, Dr Hans Kluge, said on Thursday that surging coronavirus cases across Europe shoud serve as 'a wake-up call.'
The dollar index, which fell to 92.77 recovered to 92.99, netting a small gain.
Against the Euro, the dollar was up marginally in late afternoon trades at $1.1841, recovering from $1.1872.
The Pound Sterling was weaker by over 0.4% with a unit of Sterling fetching $1.2920 a little while ago.
The Yen was firmer at 104.57 a dollar, recovering from 104.87 in the Asian session.
The Aussie lost ground against the dollar, with the latter firming up to 0.7289 a unit of the Australian currency, after having weakened to 0.7313 at the open.
The Swiss franc weakened to 0.9113 a dollar, losing ground from 0.9083 a dollar on Thursday evening.
The Loonie was weaker by nearly 0.3% at C$1.3203, drifting down from C$1.3167.
A report released by the Conference Board showed a continued increase by its reading on leading U.S. economic indicators in the month of August, although the pace of growth slowed compared to recent months.
The Conference Board said its leading economic index jumped by 1.2% in August after surging up by 2% in July and spiking by 3.1% in June. Economists had expected the index to increase by 1.3%.
The University of Michigan's report showed consumer sentiment continued to improve in the month of September.
The preliminary report said the consumer sentiment index climbed to 78.9 in September from 74.1 in August. Economists had expected the index to show a much more modest uptick to 75.0.
The index reached its highest level since March but is still well below the pre-pandemic reading of 101.0 seen in February.
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