US dollar weakens as global growth worries linger

The US dollar weakened slightly amid lingering worries about a global slowdown.

In late New York trading on Monday, the euro was unchanged at close to $1.1369 from $1.1369 in the previous session, and the British pound rose to $1.2888 from $1.2871 in the previous session, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Australian dollar fell to $0.7158 from $0.7167.

The US dollar bought 109.64 Japanese yen, lower than 109.78 Japanese yen of the previous session. The US dollar increased to 0.9976 Swiss franc from 0.9952 Swiss franc, and it was up to 1.3293 Canadian dollars from 1.3269 Canadian dollars.

Global growth is expected to remain at about 3 per cent in 2019 and 2020, after an expansion of 3.1 per cent in 2018, said a latest report released by the UN.

"A worrisome combination of development challenges could further undermine growth," according to the United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects 2019, which was launched Monday at the UN headquarters in New York.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was down 0.01 per cent at 96.3298 in late trading.

The US dollar is currently benefitting from its role as safe currency haven, but its weakness in 2019 was a consensus view among currency market traders, since investors bet that the US central bank would stop raising interest rates and the economy would slow after a fiscal boost last year, noted experts.

--IANS

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