Dollar rises ahead of Trump's press conference on coronavirus

The US dollar rose against most of its counterparts today, as investors anticipate the latest developments in the coronavirus health crisis in addition to President Donald Trump's remarks about the matter.

The White House announced that President Trump will hold a press conference later today, with health care experts participating, to speak about the extent of the coronavirus impact and spread.

Trump's remarks will come after the US stock market suffered a 2-day massive drop, due to virus-driven anxiety.

Further cases of the deadly virus emerged in Algeria, Bahrain and Kuwait, while the virus death toll increased in France, Italy, China, Japan and South Korea.

The World Health Organization stressed that the coronavirus is a serious concern, but it has not yet transformed into a global pandemic.

The dollar index rose against a basket of major currencies by 0.1% to trade at 99.1 points as of 19:07 GMT, after it hit earlier an intraday high of 99.2 and a low of 98.9.