News: FOREX-Dollar dips as Biden transition, vaccines boost risk appetite

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    The U.S. dollar fell on Tuesday as risk appetite improved after U.S. President Donald Trump accepted the transition to a Joe Biden presidency and on optimism that COVID-19 vaccines are close to being rolled out.

    Trump acknowledged that the head of the General Services Administration should go ahead with a transition to a government led by President-elect Biden, despite plans to continue with legal challenges to election results.

    “We had two big risk events taken off the table, one that the Trump administration was not going to allow for an orderly transition, and also on the vaccine front … the vaccine announcements over these last few weeks has well exceeded the most optimistic health experts forecast,” said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA in New York.

    The dollar index =USD was last down 0.31% at 92.214, having reached a three-month low of 92.013 on Monday. It is holding above a key technical support at around 92, which analysts say would lead to further declines if broken.

    The euro EUR=EBS gained 0.35% to $1.1884 and the dollar gained 0.08% to 104.56 against the Japanese yen JPY=D3 .

    Riskier currencies outperformed with the Australian dollar AUD=D3 last up 0.93% at $0.7354, after earlier touching an almost three-month high of $0.7367.

    The New Zealand dollar NZD=D3 hit a more than two-year high of $0.7005 as investors scaled back wagers of more policy easing by the country's central bank, and was last up 0.72% on the day at $0.6972.

    Bitcoin gained more than 4% to $19,139 and is approaching its record high of $19,666 from December 2017. BTC=BTSP

    “This has become a momentum trade,” said Moya. “I think what has really driven Bitcoin these last few months is the expectations that we’re going to have significant stimulus from central banks and governments.”

    Democratic allies to the Biden campaign said former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is expected to be nominated as Treasury Secretary, which has increased expectations of large fiscal stimulus.

    She has called for increased government spending to lift the economy out of a coronavirus-induced recession.

    That said, Yellen has also expressed concerns about rapidly rising U.S. debt and the worsening budget deficit.

    “She's had mixed comments I'd say on the federal budget,” said Erik Nelson, a macro strategist at Wells Fargo. “I'm not saying she's going to be a big time budget hawk, but I don't know if she’s quite as much of a budget dove as people are willing to admit.”

    Data on Tuesday showed that U.S. consumer confidence fell more than expected in November amid a widespread resurgence in new COVID-19 infections and business restrictions, reinforcing expectations for a sharp slowdown in economic growth in the fourth quarter.

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    	Currency bid prices at 3:00PM (2000 GMT) 
    
     Description	  RIC		 Last		   U.S. Close  Pct Change	 YTD Pct	 High Bid	Low Bid 
    											  Previous				   Change				  
    											  Session											
     Dollar index	  =USD	   $92.2140	   92.5090	 -0.31%		 +0.00%	  +92.5660	+92.1380 
     Euro/Dollar	   EUR=EBS	$1.1884		$1.1842	 +0.35%		 +6.00%	  +1.1894	 +1.1838 
     Dollar/Yen		JPY=D3	 104.5550	   104.5650	+0.08%		 -3.66%	  +104.7550   +104.1450 
     Euro/Yen		  EURJPY=	124.24		 123.76	  +0.39%		 +1.87%	  +124.3400   +123.6700 
     Dollar/Swiss	  CHF=EBS	0.9119		 0.9124	  -0.04%		 -5.76%	  +0.9136	 +0.9098 
     Sterling/Dollar   GBP=D3	 1.3352		 1.3327	  +0.19%		 +0.67%	  +1.3379	 +1.3294 
     Dollar/Canadian   CAD=D3	 1.3004		 1.3086	  -0.62%		 +0.11%	  +1.3090	 +1.3005 
     Aussie/Dollar	 AUD=D3	 0.7354		 0.7287	  +0.93%		 +4.82%	  +0.7368	 +0.7285 
     Euro/Swiss		EURCHF=	1.0834		 1.0804	  +0.28%		 -0.17%	  +1.0849	 +1.0803 
     Euro/Sterling	 EURGBP=	0.8899		 0.8884	  +0.17%		 +5.26%	  +0.8913	 +0.8875 
     NZ				NZD=D3	 0.6972		 0.6923	  +0.72%		 +3.63%	  +0.7004	 +0.6919 
     Dollar/Dollar																				   
    
     Dollar/Norway	 NOK=D3	 8.9110		 9.0460	  -1.47%		 +1.61%	  +9.0280	 +8.9100 
     Euro/Norway	   EURNOK=	10.5931		10.6993	 -0.99%		 +7.67%	  +10.7284	+10.5878 
     Dollar/Sweden	 SEK=	   8.5528		 8.6273	  -0.51%		 -8.50%	  +8.6371	 +8.5535 
     Euro/Sweden	   EURSEK=	10.1635		10.2161	 -0.51%		 -2.92%	  +10.2262	+10.1648                    
 
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