Asian session review: the US dollar declined against most of the world's currencies

During today's Asian trading, the US dollar declined amid increased risk appetite in global markets due to news about the possibility of an early start of vaccination against COVID-19 in the US, as well as the beginning of formal procedures for the transfer of power to US President-elect Joe Biden.

Yesterday, the British company AstraZeneca Plc reported that its vaccine showed an average effectiveness of 70% based on the results of interim tests in the UK and Brazil. At the same time, one of the tested dosage options gave a significantly higher efficiency: about 90%.

American Pfizer Inc. and German BioNTech on Friday filed a request for emergency use in the United States of their coronavirus vaccine. Moncef Slaoui, head of the US government's pre-vaccination program, said that vaccination in the US could begin as early as December 11-12.

Meanwhile, the US General services Administration (GSA) has informed Joe Biden that it is ready to begin the process of transferring power. The current US President, Donald Trump, said that he recommended that the head of the GSA, Emily Murphy, do "everything necessary" according to the" initial protocols " of the transfer of power to Biden. Trump noted that the struggle of his team for the results of the US elections continues.

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported that Biden plans to nominate former Fed chief Janet Yellen as US Treasury Secretary.

The ICE index, which tracks the dollar's performance against six currencies (the euro, swiss franc, yen, canadian dollar, pound sterling and swedish krona), fell 0.1%