News: FOREX-Dollar dips as risk appetite improves

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    (Adds quotes, updates prices; previous LONDON)

    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 optimsim that COVID-19 vaccines are close to being rolled out.

    The dollar index pared much of its earlier losses, however, and held above a key technical support. Analysts said that the greenback may need a new catalyst to push it significantly lower after dropping to near three-month lows this week.

    “It seems like there is a very, very strong tension between the bulls and the bears ... between the longer-term positives of the vaccine and what seems like a relatively sturdy U.S. economy, and the near-term outlook, which is a bit darker in terms of the COVID situation,” said Erik Nelson, a macro strategist at Wells Fargo in New York.

    The dollar index =USD was last down 0.09% at 92.415, having reached a three-month low of 92.013 on Monday.

    The index dropped slightly after data showed U.S. consumer confidence fell more than expected in November, with encouraging vaccine news countered by a widespread surge in new COVID-19 infections and business restrictions.

    The euro EUR=EBS gained 0.15% to $1.1859 and the dollar gained 0.1% to 104.71 against the Japanese yen JPY=D3 .

    The Australian dollar AUD=D3 , which is highly correlated to strong risk appetite, gained 0.53% to $0.7324 after touching an almost three-month high of $0.7367.

    Bitcoin gained more than 5% to $19,343 and is approaching its record high of $19,666 from December 2017. BTC=BTSP

    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.

    Democratic allies to the Biden campaign said former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is expected to be nominated as Treasury Secretary. She has called for increased government spending to lift the economy out of a coronavirus-induced recession.

    "That should be a positive appointment from the market's point of view as she is expected to pursue conventional policies," Commerzbank strategists said in a daily note.

    "And as far as the fiscal package is concerned, she is likely to listen to the Fed's demands and try and push a package as much as possible."

    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 Nelson. “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.”

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    	Currency bid prices at 10:14AM (1514 GMT) 
    
     Description	  RIC		 Last		   U.S. Close  Pct Change	 YTD Pct	 High Bid	Low Bid 
    											  Previous				   Change				  
    											  Session											
     Dollar index	  =USD	   $92.4150	   92.5090	 -0.09%		 +0.00%	  +92.5660	+92.1380 
     Euro/Dollar	   EUR=EBS	$1.1859		$1.1842	 +0.15%		 +5.78%	  +1.1894	 +1.1838 
     Dollar/Yen		JPY=D3	 104.7100	   104.5650	+0.10%		 -3.63%	  +104.7550   +104.1450 
     Euro/Yen		  EURJPY=	124.16		 123.76	  +0.32%		 +1.81%	  +124.2100   +123.6700 
     Dollar/Swiss	  CHF=EBS	0.9123		 0.9124	  +0.01%		 -5.70%	  +0.9136	 +0.9098 
     Sterling/Dollar   GBP=D3	 1.3319		 1.3327	  -0.06%		 +0.42%	  +1.3379	 +1.3294 
     Dollar/Canadian   CAD=D3	 1.3057		 1.3086	  -0.21%		 +0.52%	  +1.3090	 +1.3011 
     Aussie/Dollar	 AUD=D3	 0.7324		 0.7287	  +0.53%		 +4.40%	  +0.7368	 +0.7285 
     Euro/Swiss		EURCHF=	1.0819		 1.0804	  +0.14%		 -0.30%	  +1.0849	 +1.0803 
     Euro/Sterling	 EURGBP=	0.8902		 0.8884	  +0.20%		 +5.30%	  +0.8913	 +0.8875 
     NZ				NZD=D3	 0.6955		 0.6923	  +0.48%		 +3.37%	  +0.7004	 +0.6919 
     Dollar/Dollar																				   
    
     Dollar/Norway	 NOK=D3	 8.9740		 9.0460	  -0.83%		 +2.27%	  +9.0280	 +8.9700 
     Euro/Norway	   EURNOK=	10.6430		10.6993	 -0.53%		 +8.18%	  +10.7284	+10.6450 
     Dollar/Sweden	 SEK=	   8.5877		 8.6273	  -0.32%		 -8.13%	  +8.6371	 +8.5776 
     Euro/Sweden	   EURSEK=	10.1829		10.2161	 -0.32%		 -2.73%	  +10.2262	+10.1860                    
 
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