U.S. Treasury yields went up and stocks gained after initial observations suggested Omicron patients had mild symptoms, reversing some of Friday's heavy selloff.
As of Sunday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease official, told CNN that it does not look like there is a great degree of severity to it, while Omicron has spread to about one-third of U.S. states. Marc Chandler, chief market strategist at Bannockburn Global Forex, said in a note that the absence of negative developments surrounding Omicron over the weekend appears to be helping markets stabilize after the dramatic moves at the end of last week.
The dollar rose 0.3% against the Japanese yen and 0.6% against the Swiss franc. When economic or geopolitical tensions increase, investors look for safety with the yen and the franc.
The dollar fell by 0.3% against the Japanese currency on Friday. The greenback's losses on Friday followed a below-forecast jobs report, but the data did not shake market expectations that the Federal Reserve will speed up the pace of unwinding stimulus and raise interest rates starting next year.
The U.S. Dollar Currency Index, which measures the dollar against six rivals, was 0.0% higher at 96.228, not far from the 16 month high of 96.938 touched late last month.
The net long bets on the greenback went to the highest level since June 2019, according to data from the U.S. CFTC on Friday.
The Australian dollar bounced back from the 13 month low that hit last week, rebounding as much as 0.66%.
The Canadian dollar was stronger against its U.S. counterpart on Monday as oil prices went up and attention turned to a Bank of Canada interest rate decision this week, with the currency recovering from its lowest level in more than two months.
It was a wild weekend that cryptocurrencies nursed huge losses that crushed more than 20% of the value of the digital currency. The price of the digital currency fell 2.7% to around $48,146. On Monday, 46 were recorded.