The US dollar continued to trade higher as investors continued to take a cautious approach after the clinical trial of the Covid-19 vaccine by Johnson & Johnson (J&J) was temporarily suspended and lack of progress in US fiscal stimulus package negotiations.
Most US stock markets traded low following negative news about the J&J vaccine expansion efforts that had to be stopped due to one participant getting sick and Eli Lilly & Co stopping Covid-19 antibody treatment because health problems had weakened market sentiment.
Meanwhile, in the wake of the US stimulus, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said an agreement would be reached, although it was seen as not going to happen before the presidential election.
The dollar index remained strong against a basket of major currencies after gaining more than 0.5% in the previous session.
Meanwhile, the US consumer price index (CPI) met market expectations by 0.2% in September, showing an increase for the fourth consecutive month although growth is still seen to be slow.
The Aussie dollar is among the worst-performing currencies after being weakened by rising tensions between Australia and China since the Morrison administration supported the investigation of the Covid-19 origin. Beijing reportedly stopped Australian coal imports, causing several ships to get stuck in Chinese ports.
The pound has plummeted after UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson threatened to abandon talks if an agreement could not be reached this week.
While euro trading also declined following the rise of the US dollar. in addition to being stressed by concerns over the increasing number of Covid-19 cases in Europe.
