2020.05.1221:58:00UTC+00Dollar Loses Ground Against Peers

The U.S. dollar lost ground against its peers on Tuesday amid prospects for continued action by the Federal Reserve to limit the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

However, reports about upticks in new coronavirus infections in several parts of the world, including China, South Korea, Germany and France, limited the dollar's downside.

Renewed worries about U.S.-China trade tensions too supported the dollar a bit.

The dollar index dropped to a low of 99.68 earlier in the day, but recovered to 100.00 later, trailing its previous close by a shade less than 0.25%.

Against the Euro, the dollar weakened to $1.0849, nearly 0.4% down from Monday's $1.0809.

The Pound Sterling gained some ground earlier in the session, strengthening to $1.2334, but retreated as the day progressed. It was last seen fetching $1.2259, more than 0.6% less than late Monday.

The Japanese Yen firmed up to $107.15 a dollar, after being down at 107.66 a dollar yesterday.

The Aussie strengthened against the dollar, with the later falling to $0.6520.

The Swiss franc firmed up to 0.9696 from 0.9730 a dollar, while the Loonie strenghened to 1.3990 from 1.4007.

In economic news, consumer prices in the U.S. decreased in line with economist estimates in the month of April, according to a report by the Labor Department. The report said the consumer price index slid by 0.8% in April after falling by 0.4% in March.

The drop by the index, which matched economist estimates, reflects the largest monthly decline since December of 2008.

Excluding food and energy prices, core consumer prices fell by 0.4% in April after edging down by 0.1% in March. Economists had expected core prices to dip by 0.2%.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) said some treatments appear to be limiting the severity or length of the COVID-19 disease and that it was focusing on learning more about four or five of the most promising ones.