At the opening of the US market, most currencies including the Australian dollar and the British pound depreciated following the possibility of further sanctions that could be imposed in Europe to curb the Covid-19 Omicron variant.
After a big announcement made by a major central bank last week, market players began to shift their focus to the development of the Omicron variant.
The Netherlands has taken precautionary measures by imposing sanctions starting Sunday and on the other hand, Italy is considering similar measures.
According to MUFG currency analyst Lee Hardman, "investors' risk sentiment has been affected as there is further evidence of the contagion and impact of the Omicron variant". He added, "Tighter closures in the Netherlands will raise concerns that similar measures will be adopted in other European countries in the coming weeks."
The Australian dollar, seen as a proxy for investor risk appetite, fell 0.2% to a trading level of $ 0.7109. Meanwhile, the GBP declined 0.2% to trade level of $ 1.32105 against the US dollar.
British Health Minister Sajid Javid on Sunday made a statement that he did not rule out the possibility of further sanctions before Christmas.
At the same time, the decline in oil prices also affected commodity -linked currencies. Where the Swedish currency has depreciated against the euro and the US dollar.
In addition, the market was also affected by uncertainty over the U.S. President’s domestic policy bill. Joe Biden, known as “Build Back Better”. Goldman Sachs has downgraded its U.S. economic growth forecast and impacted 10 -year U.S. treasury yields that fell to a Dec. 6 low on Monday.
The US dollar index, which measures the US dollar against major currencies, fell 0.15% to a trading level of 96.405.
