FOREX-Dollar falls for 5th day as vaccine hopes outweigh spike in COVID cases

* Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine trial shows 95% effective
* Dollar index edges down to more than one-week low
* Bitcoin surges above $18,000, but last down on the day
* Euro ticks up, investor ignore EU recovery fund hurdles
* Sterling gains on Brexit developments
* Graphic: World FX rates in 2020 https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E

(Recasts, adds new comment, FX table, updates prices, changes
byline, dateline; previous LONDON)
By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
NEW YORK, Nov 18 (Reuters) - The dollar slipped for a fifth
straight session on Wednesday, sliding to a more than one-week
low, as positive vaccine news offset the surge in coronavirus
cases and tighter economic restrictions across the United States
and Europe.
The market showed a little more appetite for risk-taking,
with gains in currencies that rise in times of improving
sentiment such as sterling, the New Zealand dollar, and
Norwegian crown.
Pfizer PFE.N announced that the final results from the
late-stage trial of its COVID-19 vaccine showed it was 95%
effective, giving relief to a pandemic-weary market
That followed news that Moderna Inc MRNA.O
released preliminary data for its vaccine, showing 94.5%
effectiveness. That said, the number of reported global daily deaths from
the coronavirus stood at 10,816 on Tuesday, according to a
Reuters tally, the highest single-day death count. The United
States, the worst-affected country worldwide, has reported about
11.38 million infections and 248,574 deaths since the pandemic
started. "A spike in COVID cases is generally good for the dollar and
other safe-haven currencies like the yen and Swiss franc, but
the positive vaccine news roughly counters that," said Greg
Anderson, global head of foreign exchange strategy at BMO
Capital Markets in New York.
The dollar overall is expected to weaken as global economies
improve once the vaccine gets widely distributed and as the
Federal Reserve stands ready to provide more easing that should
further erode the value of the greenback.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell said on Tuesday there was "a long
way to go" to economic recovery and a retail sales report
released by the U.S. Commerce Department showed spending
decelerating. In mid-morning trading, the dollar index slipped 0.1% to
92.298 =USD , after dropping as low as 92.207, its lowest level
since Nov. 9.
Bitcoin BTC=BTSP , sometimes regarded as a safe haven, or
at least a hedge against inflation, rose to more than $18,000
for the first time in nearly three years. It last stood around
$17,594, down 0.4%.
The euro EUR=EBS was slightly up on the day at $1.1869
rising, despite Poland and Hungary blocking the European Union's
1.8 trillion-euro ($2.14 trillion) financial package to revive
an economy depressed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sterling, meanwhile, rose 0.3% versus the dollar to $1.3297
GBP=D3 in the wake of a report from the Sun newspaper that
Prime Minister Boris Johnson was told by British negotiators to
expect a Brussels trade deal early next week, with "a possible
landing zone" as soon as next Tuesday. The dollar though fell 0.3% against the yen to 103.865
JPY=EBS , with the Japanese currency recouping much of the
losses it suffered last week after Pfizer announced it had
developed a working COVID-19 vaccine.
China's offshore yuan surged to its highest in more than two
years against the dollar on Wednesday. The greenback though
recovered to trade 0.2% higher at 6.5619 amid dollar-buying by
major state-owned banks in what some traders suspected was an
effort to slow the Chinese currency's advance towards 6.5-per
dollar. Currency bid prices at 10:11AM (1511 GMT)
Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid
Previous Change
Session
Dollar index =USD 92.2960 92.4330 -0.13% +0.00% +92.5160 +92.2070
Euro/Dollar EUR=EBS $1.1867 $1.1861 +0.05% +5.85% +1.1891 +1.1851
Dollar/Yen JPY=D3 103.8250 104.1900 -0.35% -4.41% +104.1900 +103.8250
Euro/Yen EURJPY= 123.19 123.57 -0.31% +1.03% +123.6300 +123.2100
Dollar/Swiss CHF=EBS 0.9108 0.9116 -0.05% -5.84% +0.9122 +0.9098
Sterling/Dollar GBP=D3 1.3302 1.3250 +0.39% +0.29% +1.3305 +1.3248
Dollar/Canadian CAD=D3 1.3076 1.3107 -0.23% +0.66% +1.3117 +1.3056
Aussie/Dollar AUD=D3 0.7313 0.7300 +0.18% +4.23% +0.7328 +0.7272
Euro/Swiss EURCHF= 1.0807 1.0811 -0.04% -0.41% +1.0824 +1.0804
Euro/Sterling EURGBP= 0.8919 0.8953 -0.38% +5.50% +0.8959 +0.8921
NZ NZD=D3 0.6927 0.6894 +0.49% +2.96% +0.6930 +0.6877
Dollar/Dollar
Dollar/Norway NOK=D3 9.0210 9.0700 -0.53% +2.84% +9.0890 +9.0095
Euro/Norway EURNOK= 10.7050 10.7464 -0.39% +8.81% +10.7790 +10.6960
Dollar/Sweden SEK= 8.5997 8.6131 -0.23% -8.00% +8.6359 +8.5803
Euro/Sweden EURSEK= 10.2055 10.2293 -0.23% -2.52% +10.2420 +10.1870