US Dollar defies detractors with its strongest start in five years

Many forecasters came into 2020 expecting that US growth might trail other parts of the world and act as a drag on the American currency

The US currency is having its best start to a year since 2015, defying the expectations of many forecasters and potentially adding global growth headwinds.
 
The Bloomberg dollar index has climbed 1.9% since the end of December, spurred in part by demand for havens as the global spread of the Wuhan coronavirus and other uncertainties dent investor appetite for riskier assets. The greenback, which is up against all of its Group-of-10 peers in 2020, has also benefited from stable US economic data and bond yields that remain high relative to the rest of the world even as interest rates