The euro fell against the dollar on Wednesday, in a market won by fears of a second wave of Covid-19 and concerned about the economic outlook.

Around 7:30 p.m. GMT (9:30 p.m. in Paris), the euro lost 0.% against the greenback, at 1.1302 dollars.

The single European currency had however progressed against the dollar since the beginning of the week, encouraged by positive economic signals.

"But the outlook for growth remains murky with fears that a significant rise in coronavirus infections could lead to another wave of business closures, which would be damaging to the economy," noted Western Union's Joe Manimbo.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) also unveiled on Wednesday a forecast for a global recession of 4.9% this year. This is much worse than the 3% anticipated in April, at the height of the pandemic, when the IMF was already stressing that it was the worst crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

In the United States, GDP is expected to collapse by 8%, well beyond the 5.9% decline estimated in April.

The exponential rise in hospitalizations in the southern United States has been deemed "worrying" by Dr Anthony Fauci, chief immunologist at the White House, who said he was concerned as more than 32,000 cases were diagnosed in 24 hours Tuesday.

The United States, which recorded its first death linked to the coronavirus in early February, is the most affected country in terms of both the number of deaths and cases, with 121,662 deaths for 2,364,874 cases. At least 647,548 people have been declared cured.