The US dollar again showed gains as the market entered the European session, causing most other major currencies to retreat from previously recorded modest gains.
At the time of writing, the dollar index is up 0.5% against six other major currencies, bringing it to trade higher to around 96.00.
The rise was not only seen in the USD, but was also exhibited by the safe-haven yen and the precious metal gold after being supported by market concerns over the worsening Covid-19 pandemic in Europe.
The Covid-19 pandemic in Germany is becoming increasingly alarming, especially after the Health Minister said the country was in a state of emergency due to a sharp increase in cases of infection.
The sad news does not stop here, even Austria which had previously imposed restrictions on the unvaccinated only, has announced a surprise nationwide lockdown today.
This caused major currencies to collapse and gave a profit to the safe-haven currency.
The euro eased back to around 1.1300 against the USD following the report, as well as the latest statement by European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde.
Lagarde continues to view that conditions for tightening policy are still a long way off, suggesting that the central bank will keep interest rates low longer.
The pound fell back below the 1.3500 price level following the USD's resurgence, failing to maintain gains from positive UK retail sales data.
