News: FOREX-Dollar dips as U.S. stimulus optimism boosts risk taking

• Graphic: World FX rates in 2020 https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E

(Adds quotes, updates prices; previous LONDON)

The dollar hit a more than two-year low against the euro on Tuesday, and riskier currencies including the Australian and Canadian dollars gained as optimism that U.S. lawmakers would enlarge stimulus payments to individuals boosted risk sentiment.

The House of Representatives voted on Monday to more than triple stimulus payments to Americans, to $2,000 from $600, sending the plan on to the Senate for a vote.

“The possibility of another U.S. stimulus package has lifted the market’s spirits,” FX analysts at Scotiabank said in a report.

“Still, market optimism may be somewhat unwarranted as the legislation faces little chance of passing in the Senate as Republicans attempt to rein in spending - but rejecting increased payments amid pressure from Trump could risk their showing in the Jan. 5 Georgia Senate runoffs,” they added.

Georgia Republican incumbents Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue face crucial Senate runoffs next month that will determine who controls the chamber.

The dollar fell 0.35% against a basket of currencies =USD to 89.92. It is holding just above a two-and-a-half year low of 89.72 reached on Dec. 17.

Investors are betting the greenback will continue to decline - it fell more than 6% this year - on expectations the Federal Reserve will hold interest rates near zero and the U.S. economy will struggle to recover from coronavirus-related shutdowns.

Data released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Monday showed traders increased bets against the dollar in the week ended Dec. 21 to $26.6 billion. That was the highest in three months, according to Reuters calculations.

The Aussie AUD=D3 gained 0.34% to $0.7608. It reached $0.7639 on Dec. 17, the highest since June 2018.

The greenback slipped 0.40% against the Canadian dollar CAD=D3 to 1.2797 Canadian dollars. The loonie reached 1.2684 on Dec. 17, the strongest since April 2018.

The euro EUR=EBS gained 0.40% to $1.2265 after getting as high as $1.2274, the highest since April 2018.

The single currency has also been buoyed by a trade deal reached last week for Britain to leave the European Union. Though the agreement is not comprehensive, it avoided a damaging no-deal outcome.

Sterling GBP=D3 rose 0.28% to $1.3496 following a two-day dip. It was as high as $1.3625 this month, a level unseen since May 2018, but investors have taken some profits since the Brexit trade deal was struck.

Bitcoin < BTC=BTSP> fell 1.17% to $26,720 after hitting a record $28,378 on Sunday.

XRP XRP=BTSP the third-biggest digital currency, slumped by over a fifth to its lowest since July after Coinbase, a major U.S. virtual coin exchange, said it would suspend XRP trading.

The move came after U.S. regulators charged Ripple, a blockchain firm associated with XRP, with conducting a $1.3 billion unregistered securities offering. Ripple has denied the charges.

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	Currency bid prices at 10:00AM (1500 GMT) 

 Description	  RIC		 Last		   U.S. Close   Pct Change	 YTD Pct	 High Bid	Low Bid 
											  Previous					Change				  
											  Session											 
 Dollar index	  =USD	   89.9230		90.2430	  -0.35%		 +0.00%	  +90.2530	+89.8510 
 Euro/Dollar	   EUR=EBS	$1.2265		$1.2216	  +0.40%		 +9.40%	  +$1.2275	+$1.2207 
 Dollar/Yen		JPY=D3	 103.5650	   103.8250	 -0.28%		 -4.68%	  +103.8000   +103.5300 
 Euro/Yen		  EURJPY=	127.06		 126.77	   +0.23%		 +4.19%	  +127.2300   +126.7100 
 Dollar/Swiss	  CHF=EBS	0.8841		 0.8886	   -0.51%		 -8.64%	  +0.8887	 +0.8831 
 Sterling/Dollar   GBP=D3	 $1.3496		$1.3460	  +0.28%		 +1.77%	  +$1.3521	+$1.3443 
 Dollar/Canadian   CAD=D3	 1.2797		 1.2849	   -0.40%		 -1.49%	  +1.2849	 +1.2780 
 Aussie/Dollar	 AUD=D3	 $0.7608		$0.7583	  +0.34%		 +8.43%	  +$0.7619	+$0.7577 
 Euro/Swiss		EURCHF=	1.0843		 1.0852	   -0.08%		 -0.08%	  +1.0875	 +1.0836 
 Euro/Sterling	 EURGBP=	0.9085		 0.9078	   +0.08%		 +7.46%	  +0.9094	 +0.9057 
 NZ				NZD=D3	 $0.7156		$0.7103	  +0.70%		 +6.30%	  +$0.7164	+$0.7099 
 Dollar/Dollar																					

 Dollar/Norway	 NOK=D3	 8.5985		 8.6490	   -0.66%		 -2.05%	  +8.6405	 +8.5860 
 Euro/Norway	   EURNOK=	10.5480		10.5470	  +0.01%		 +7.22%	  +10.5815	+10.4950 
 Dollar/Sweden	 SEK=	   8.1861		 8.2569	   -0.53%		 -12.42%	 +8.2842	 +8.1795 
 Euro/Sweden	   EURSEK=	10.0453		10.0990	  -0.53%		 -4.05%	  +10.1328	+10.0430