By Alex Ho

Investing.com - The Chinese yuan was flat on Friday in Asia as the World Health Organization (WHO) said China could “reverse the tide” and control the virus outbreak.

The USD/CNY pair was unchanged at 6.9364 by 1:06 AM ET (05:06 GMT).

The death toll in China has now reached 213 and the number of cases is 9,692 - up from 7,711 a day ago, Beijing confirmed today.

Overnight, the WHO declared the fast-spreading virus a global health emergency, but noted that there is no need to issue travel and trade bans.

The U.S. Dollar Index that tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies inched up 0.1% to 97.755. The country’s GDP increased at a 2.1% pace in the fourth quarter of last year, the Commerce Department said in its advance estimate on Thursday, in line with forecasts.

On the labor front, initial jobless claims fell by 7,000 to a seasonally adjusted 216,000, slightly missing economists' forecast for a drop to 215,000.

The GBP/USD pair was little changed at 1.3096 after the Bank of England held rates steady. Yesterday, the pound rose to a week high but Britain’s market watchdog was reportedly investigating the move because it began just before the bank's announcement.

The USD/JPY pair advanced 0.2% as global equities recovered.

The AUD/USD pair and the NZD/USD pair were both little changed.

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