Dollar rises on safe-haven demand amid China virus concerns

The US dollar rose against most major currencies today, amid mounting concerns in global markets about the Chinese coronavirus, which has spread into several other countries outside China.

The Chinese government revealed that the deadly coronavirus, as its death toll rose to 26 victims, more than 850 were infected, and the lockdown of two major cities were the virus spread heavily.

The US announced the second confirmed case infected by the virus, and also in Saudi Arabia, Japan and Scotland.

But the World Health Organization reassured that there is no reason to declare a global emergency, but stressed that preparations must be made to prevent an epidemic.

Otherwise, President Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs against the EU and the UK if they introduced a digital tax against US tech companies and if they didn't reach a fair trade deal with the US.

The dollar index rose by 0.2% to 97.8 points as of 18:49 GMT, after hitting a day high of 97.9 and a low of 97.6.