WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. dollar traded mostly lower on Monday as riskier currencies firmed up on improved sentiment thanks to signs of progress in Brexit negotiations, and on encouraging news on coronavirus vaccine front.
Upbeat economic data out of China and Japan also contributed to improved risk sentiment.
The dollar index, which recovered to 92.84 from a low of 92.46 touched in the Asian session, turned weak again and was last seen at 92.57, down 0.2% from previous close.
Against the Euro, the dollar was weaker at $1.1854, easing from $1.1838.
The Sterling was little changed, fetching $1.3197 a unit, after having dropped to $1.3165 earlier.
The Japanese Yen was up slightly 104.58 a dollar, recovering from 105.11 a dollar.
Against the Aussie, the dollar shed about 0.7% with the AUD-USD pair at 0.7321 compared to 0.7270 Friday evening.
The Swiss franc was flat at 0.9127, after closing at 0.9127 on Friday, while the Loonie firmed up to C$1.3079 from C$1.3137 thanks to a surge in crude oil prices.
In Canadian economic news, manufacturing sales in Canada rose 1.4% over month earlier to C$ 53.8 billion in September 2020, rebounding from a downwardly revised 1.4% fall in the previous month. Still, sales were 3.6% below their pre-pandemic levels in February.
On the vaccine front, close on the heels of Pfizer and BioNtech reporting encouraging results from the phase 3 trial of their coronavirus vaccine last week, Moderna Inc. has announced that the trial of its experimental Covid-19 vaccine has proved 94.5% effective in preventing the injection.
Johnson & Johnson is launching a new large-scale late-stage trial in Britain to test a two-dose regimen of its experimental Covid-19 vaccine among thousands of volunteers.
The Oxford Covid vaccine and another one being developed by U.S. biotech company Novavax are already undergoing large clinical trials in British patients.
In a statement overnight, one of the scientists behind the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine said that 'if everything continues to go well.we could have a normal winter next year.'
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