European session review: USD continues to depreciate despite uncertainty over increase of stimulus payments in U.S.

USD fell against its major counterparts in the European session on Wednesday as uncertainty over a possible increase of the COVID relief payments by the U.S. Senate was outweighed by the UK's approval of a new coronavirus vaccine. 

The U.S. Dollar Index (DXY), measuring the U.S. currency's value relative to a basket of foreign currencies, dropped 0.32% to 89.71.

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell blocked an attempt by Democrats to set up a vote on a House-passed bill, increasing stimulus payments for most Americans from $600 to $2,000. He said that senators would address the measure this week, but the outcome remains uncertain. The latest setback likely kills the possibility of approval of boosted payments under the current Congress, which expires this weekend.

The market sentiment, however, got a lift from the approval of the coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca (AZN) and Oxford University by the UK, which battles a more contagious variant of the coronavirus. The vaccine will become the second COVID-19 vaccine in use in Britain. Earlier this month, the UK's health regulators gave emergency authorization to the Pfizer/BioNTech's vaccine.