- Graphic: World FX rates in 2020 https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E
(Adds quotes, updates prices)
The U.S. dollar fell to two-week low against a basket of currencies and a seven-month low against the Japanese yen as surging stock markets reduced demand for the greenback, and before the Federal Reserve will conclude its two-day meeting.
Democrat Joe Biden edged closer to victory over Republican President Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential race as election officials tallied votes in the handful of states that will determine the outcome and protesters took to the streets.
But the so called "blue wave," where Democrats also take control of the Senate in congressional elections, looked unlikely. Wall Street's main indexes jumped as investors bet that a Republican-held Senate would block any moves by a Biden administration to tighten regulation and raise taxes on corporate America.
“The investor class loves the idea of a Democratic president and a Republican Senate that will return back to essentially a steady, normal state of affairs,” said Boris Schlossberg, managing director of FX strategy at BK Asset Management in New York.
The dollar index fell 0.74% against a basket of currencies =USD to 92.71.
The euro EUR= jumped 0.78% to $1.1813. The dollar dropped 0.78% against the Japanese yen JPY= to 103.67 yen, the lowest since March 12, and breached technical support at 104 yen that will now likely form resistance.
The yuan CNH= gained to a more than two-year high of 6.5994. The Chinese currency has been heavily affected by Sino-U.S. disputes since the outbreak of a bilateral trade war in 2018.
The dollar has been hurt by ultra-loose Federal Reserve policy as the U.S. central bank aims to stimulate growth after the economy was ravaged by business shutdowns due to COVID-19.
The U.S. central bank's policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee is expected to stick closely to its last statement and repeat its pledge to do whatever it can to help the economy through the coronavirus-triggered recession when it concludes its meeting on Thursday.
U.S. Treasury yields fell from four-month highs this week as the prospect of a large jump in stimulus on a Democrat sweep of Congress faded, which is also expected to weigh on the dollar.
“Regardless of the election result, I think the dollar’s going to fall,” said Marc Chandler, chief market strategist at Bannockburn Global Forex in New York.
“Typically a country with a large budget deficit, a large current account deficit, has to offer a large interest rate premium to suck in world savings, and because we can’t, because of the weak economy, the low inflation, I think that we can’t offer a sufficiently high interest rate premium,” Chandler said.
======================================================== Currency bid prices at 11:42AM (1642 GMT)Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid Previous Change Session Euro/Dollar EUR= $1.1813 $1.1722 +0.78% +5.38% +1.1859 +1.1712 Dollar/Yen JPY= 103.6700 104.4800 -0.78% -4.77% +104.5500 +103.6200 Euro/Yen EURJPY= 122.49 122.53 -0.03% +0.43% +123.1600 +122.2200 Dollar/Swiss CHF= 0.9054 0.9124 -0.77% -6.45% +0.9135 +0.9045 Sterling/Dollar GBP= 1.3108 1.2985 +0.95% -1.14% +1.3114 +1.2932 Dollar/Canadian CAD= 1.3047 1.3139 -0.70% +0.47% +1.3177 +1.3028 Australian/Doll AUD= 0.7264 0.7173 +1.27% +3.46% +0.7275 +0.7146 arEuro/Swiss EURCHF= 1.0703 1.0690 +0.12% -1.37% +1.0726 +1.0687 Euro/Sterling EURGBP= 0.9011 0.9025 -0.16% +6.59% +0.9071 +0.9007 NZ NZD= 0.6758 0.6694 +0.96% +0.33% +0.6768 +0.6680 Dollar/DollarDollar/Norway NOK= 9.1842 9.3174 -1.43% +4.62% +9.3675 +9.1472 Euro/Norway EURNOK= 10.8518 10.9269 -0.69% +10.31% +10.9740 +10.8218 Dollar/Sweden SEK= 8.7108 8.7772 -0.04% -6.84% +8.8034 +8.6657 Euro/Sweden EURSEK= 10.2890 10.2928 -0.04% -1.72% +10.3180 +10.2680
