The U.S. dollar started the week with a soft tone on Monday as investors looked to looming economic data from around the world and U.S. corporate earnings to gauge whether the markets’ guarded optimism on the economic outlook is justified.

The greenback ended its third week of losses on Friday as investors bought into risk-sensitive currencies on bets that the worst of the pandemic’s sweeping impact was over.

The dollar index against a basket of currencies stood at 96.586 =USD, down slightly after having lost about 0.5% last week.

U.S. coronavirus cases continued to surge over the weekend, as Florida reported an increase of more than 15,000 new cases of COVID-19 in 24 hours, a record for any state, surpassing a peak hit in New York in April.

The Chinese yuan stood flat at 7.0068 per dollar in early trade.

The euro traded at $1.1314, maintaining its slow uptrend since late last month.

The dollar traded at 106.915 yen, off two-week lows of 106.635 set on Friday.

Source: Reuters