The dollar weakened on Friday due to growing investor concerns about new mutations.
The U.S. dollar index fell 0.07% against other currencies to 96.685, moving away from 96.938, the highest level in almost 17 months.
The yen dropped 0.58% to 114.68 yen per dollar.
The Australian dollar fell 0.63% to 0.7145 despite the fact that Australian retail sales rose 4.9% month-on-month in October.
The New Zealand dollar fell 0.42% to 0.6830.
The yuan rose 0.09% to 6.3920.
The pound fell 0.12% to 1.3304 pounds per dollar.
The rand fell to 16.17 per dollar, its lowest level in more than a year. Given concerns about the Covid 19 strain B.1.1.529 discovered in South Africa, which could render the current vaccine obsolete.
In Europe, the rising number of COVID-19 cases has prompted Germany to take the same action as Austria and re-impose lockdown measures.
While the U.S. Federal Reserve is now considering raising interest rates, the European Central Bank and Japan’s central bank remain stubborn.
The Bank of Japan last week reaffirmed its commitment to a massive monetary stimulus package.
The baht remains unchanged at 33.550 baht per U.S. dollar.