The US dollar was heading its best week since March against the Japanese yen, as news of the vaccine brought investors away from the safe-haven yen, although major currencies gained little due to the worsening pandemic crisis in Europe and the United States.
Concerns over the increase in Covid-19 cases have helped the yen erase some losses by recording a 0.3% increase against the USD. However, the currency is still 1.7% lower against the USD this week.
The safe-haven yen traded stable around the 104.90 price level against the USD in the Asian session.
The Aussie dollar continued to trade under pressure due to gloomy market sentiment and was also affected by rising tensions between Australia and China.
Weak sentiment also prompted the kiwi dollar to erase almost all of its gains this week following a decision by the New Zealand central bank that may not implement a negative rate until 2021.
In the previous session, the market was shown with the reading of the US consumer price index unchanged in October due to a modest increase in food prices and offset by cheaper petrol. The US annual inflation rate rose 1.2% from a 1.4% increase in the previous month.
The euro is the only currency to rise against the USD, despite weak industrial production data and a warning by German Chancellor Angela Merkel that sanctions are likely to be extended until October.
Meanwhile, the currencies that showed the worst performance were the pound sterling driven by the lack of progress in the Brexit trade negotiations and weaker-than-expected economic data.
