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

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    The U.S. dollar gained on Wednesday in choppy trading as some optimism faded that the coronavirus crisis may be nearing a peak faded and as investor concerns remained over the economic fallout of the pandemic.

    The greenback's firmer tone came even as stocks rallied, but held below intraday highs reached on Tuesday.

    "Optimism has eased, and it has to. It's a 50% world. Uncertainty will remain a part of our lives for the next two months," said Juan Perez, senior currency trader at Tempus Inc in Washington.

    "There's really a fundamental lack of answer to an important question and that is: Are we testing enough? And the answer is no. So you're not going to get a whole lot of consistency right now," he added.

    U.S. officials warned Americans to expect alarming numbers of coronavirus deaths this week, even as an influential university model on Wednesday scaled back its projected U.S. pandemic death toll by 26% to 60,000.

    U.S. Federal Reserve officials, at two emergency meetings last month, grew increasingly concerned by the swiftness with which the coronavirus outbreak was harming the U.S. economy and disrupting financial markets, prompting them to take "forceful action", minutes of the meetings released on Wednesday showed.

    The dollar index gained 0.16% on the day to 100.12 =USD . Against the yen, the dollar gained 0.13% to 108.84 yen JPY= .

    Sterling gained 0.41% against the greenback to $1.2388 GBP= .

    The euro dipped 0.28% to $1.0858 EUR= . It was weighed down by the failure of European Union finance ministers to agree on further support for their coronavirus-hit economies.

    The talks, which are trying to agree on a package of measures for governments, companies and individuals, were suspended until Thursday. A feud between Italy and the Netherlands over what conditions should be attached to euro zone credit for governments was blocking progress, sources said.

    The Aussie AUD= gained 1.10% to a three-week high of $0.6234, erasing earlier losses after ratings agency S&P cut the outlook for its sovereign AAA rating from stable to negative, clawed back losses and turned positive on the day.

    Some analysts, meanwhile, are starting to look at the potentially negative longer-term implications for the dollar of the extraordinary stimulus measures launched by Washington and the Fed to lessen the economic damage caused by the pandemic.

    "If you assume that COVID-19 is tackled by the end of the year ... in 2021 we have fiscal deficits, balance sheet expansion, and the supply of dollars through other measures - it's definitely a very strong background for a weaker dollar," said MUFG's Derek Halpenny.

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    	Currency bid prices at 3:32PM (1932 GMT) 
    
     Description	  RIC		 Last		   U.S. Close  Pct Change	 YTD Pct	 High Bid	Low Bid 
    											  Previous				   Change				  
    											  Session											
     Euro/Dollar	  EUR=		$1.0858		$1.0889	 -0.28%		 -3.14%	  +1.0902	 +1.0831 
     Dollar/Yen	   JPY=		108.8400	   108.7000	+0.13%		 -0.01%	  +109.0900   +108.5200 
     Euro/Yen		 EURJPY=	 118.20		 118.44	  -0.20%		 -3.08%	  +118.6900   +117.9300 
     Dollar/Swiss	 CHF=		0.9712		 0.9692	  +0.21%		 +0.36%	  +0.9743	 +0.9689 
     Sterling/Dollar  GBP=		1.2388		 1.2337	  +0.41%		 -6.57%	  +1.2419	 +1.2290 
     Dollar/Canadian  CAD=		1.4027		 1.3993	  +0.24%		 +8.02%	  +1.4081	 +1.3988 
     Australian/Doll  AUD=		0.6234		 0.6166	  +1.10%		 -11.21%	 +0.6244	 +0.6117 
     ar																							  
    
     Euro/Swiss	   EURCHF=	 1.0549		 1.0560	  -0.10%		 -2.79%	  +1.0568	 +1.0549 
     Euro/Sterling	EURGBP=	 0.8764		 0.8829	  -0.74%		 +3.67%	  +0.8835	 +0.8747 
     NZ			   NZD=		0.6018		 0.5974	  +0.74%		 -10.66%	 +0.6030	 +0.5941 
     Dollar/Dollar																				   
    
     Dollar/Norway	NOK=		10.2593		10.2641	 -0.05%		 +16.87%	 +10.3771	+10.2370 
     Euro/Norway	  EURNOK=	 11.1410		11.2018	 -0.54%		 +13.25%	 +11.2702	+11.1355 
     Dollar/Sweden	SEK=		10.0570		10.0495	 -0.23%		 +7.59%	  +10.1186	+10.0147 
     Euro/Sweden	  EURSEK=	 10.9299		10.9547	 -0.23%		 +4.40%	  +10.9845	+10.9060 
    	<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
    Tracking the spread of the novel coronavirus	 https://graphics.reuters.com/CHINA-HEALTH-MAP/0100B59S39E/index.html 
    
    	^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>                    
 
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