New York, Jul 16 (IANS): The US dollar weakened in late trading on Wednesday as appetite for the currency diminished amid a continued spike in coronavirus infections across the United States.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, fell 0.18 per cent at 96.0879.

In late New York trading, the euro increased to $1.1405 from $1.1393 in the previous session, and the British pound was up to $1.2580 from $1.2555 in the previous session. The Australian dollar rose to $0.6998 from $0.6968, Xinhua reported.

The US dollar bought 106.95 Japanese yen, lower than 107.20 Japanese yen of the previous session. The US dollar was up to 0.9455 Swiss franc from 0.9391 Swiss franc, and it fell to 1.3508 Canadian dollars from 1.3621 Canadian dollars.

"The virus has now cost the dollar its role as a safe haven as the crisis has hit the heart of the US," Antje Praefcke, analyst at Commerzbank Research, said in a note on Wednesday.

More than 3.46 million confirmed Covid-19 cases have been reported in the US, with nearly 137,000 deaths, as of Wednesday afternoon, showed a tally by Johns Hopkins University.