2020.04.2721:35:00UTC+00Dollar Loses Ground As Risk Appetite Improves

The U.S. dollar was weak against most of its peers as risk appetite increased globally amid reports several countries are set to relax shutdown restrictions following a drop in new coronavirus infections last week.

Italy and Spain announced plans to ease restrictions on Sunday in a bid to restart their economy.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said that "strategic" businesses could restart as early as next week by taking strict safety measures.

Traders also looked ahead to the upcoming monetary policy statement from the Federal Reserve. The Fed is scheduled to meet on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. It is widely expected that the central bank will announce further stimulus to support the economy.

The European Central Bank meets on Thursday. The Bank of Japan today abandoned the ceiling on its purchases of Japanese government bonds, pledging unlimited bond-buying to keep borrowing costs low.

The dollar index dropped to a low of 99.83 early Monday before regaining some ground. Still, at 10005, the index was down in negative territory late afternoon, trailing its previous close by about 0.32%.

Against the Euro, the dollar was quite weak at $1.0862 early on in the session, but later recovered to $1.0820. It was last seen at $1.0829, against previous close of $1.0823.

Against Pound Sterling, the dollar weakened to $1.2426, going down by about 0.5%. The dollar lost ground against the Yen as well, with a unit fetching 107.08 yen compared with 107.51 yen on Friday.

The dollar weakened to $0.6459 against the Aussie, sliding from $0.6371. The dollar slipped to CHF 0.9750, falling from CHF 0.9730. However, against the Loonie, the dollar dropped to C$1.4069 from C$1.4103.