FOREX-Aussie and euro gain as U.S. transition goes ahead; kiwi jumps

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

By Saikat Chatterjee and Hideyuki Sano
LONDON/TOKYO, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Risk-oriented currencies
including the Australian dollar and the euro rose on Tuesday
after U.S. President Donald Trump accepted the start of a
transition to a Biden regime, that may include former Federal
Reserve Chair Janet Yellen as Treasury secretary.
The New Zealand dollar NZD=D4 was among the major gainers,
rising as much as 0.9% to a two-year high of $0.6985, after the
country's government sought advice from the central bank on how
it could help stabilise property prices, prompting investors to
unwind some bets of more monetary easing. Trump gave the head of the General Services Administration
the go-ahead to proceed with a transition to a government led by
President-elect Joe Biden despite plans to continue with legal
challenges. Democratic allies to the Biden campaign said Yellen is
expected to be nominated to become Treasury Secretary,
heartening investors as 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."
Yellen has called for the opening of fiscal spending taps to
revive an economy wrecked by the coronavirus pandemic and would
be the first person to head the Treasury, the Fed and the White
House Council of Economic Advisers.
In contrast, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin last
week let some of the Fed's lending programmes expire at the end
of this year, opening a feud with the central bank, which said
those emergency facilities are important to support the economy.
Against a basket of other major currencies =USD , the
greenback edged 0.12% lower to 92.396, hovering just above a
near three-month low of 92.013 hit on Monday.
The Australian dollar ticked up 0.4% to $0.7313 AUD=D4
while the euro EUR=EBS rose 0.1% at $1.1852.
The dollar also struggled after AstraZeneca AZN.L further
lifted investors' appetite for risk by saying its COVID-19
vaccine could be about 90% effective and it would prepare to
submit data to authorities around the world that have a
framework for conditional or early approval.