* Debate confirms uncertain election outlook, boosts dollar
* U.S. private employment rises in September
* U.S. GDP final estimate shows steep contraction
* Graphic: World FX rates in 2020 https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E
(Adds new comments, FX table, U.S. data, updates prices)
By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
NEW YORK, Sept 30 (Reuters) - The dollar edged higher on
Wednesday after a two-day fall, as Tuesday's highly contentious
debate between U.S. President Donald Trump and Democratic
challenger Joe Biden reinforced concerns about a possible
contested outcome of the upcoming presidential election.
The dollar index rose above the 94 mark =USD against a
basket of currencies after two days of losses that followed the
U.S. currency reaching a two-month high last week.
Trump and Biden battled fiercely over Trump's record on the
coronavirus pandemic, healthcare and the economy in a chaotic
and bad-tempered first debate marked by personal insults and
Trump's repeated interruptions. "The debate just confirmed that the election would be
pretty much contested, if it's anywhere close," attracting
safe-haven bids for the dollar, said Edward Moya, senior market
analyst at OANDA in New York.
"People are going to wonder how long would it be until we
get the final result."
The greenback was also boosted by quarter-end and month-end
portfolio rebalancing, analysts said. Demand for dollars tends
to rise at the end of quarters as portfolio rebalancing and fund
transfers require currencies like the euro and sterling to be
converted to dollars.
U.S. economic data was also for the most part
dollar-supportive.
U.S. private employers stepped up hiring in September, with
private payrolls increasing by 749,000 jobs this month, the ADP
National Employment Report showed on Wednesday. Data for August
was revised up to show 481,000 jobs added instead of the
initially reported 428,000. "Overall, employment growth appears to be slowing gradually,
but remains more than strong enough to keep the unemployment
rate on a downward trend," said Andrew Hunter, senior U.S.
economist at Capital Economics.
"That said, with employment still more than 10 million below
its pre-pandemic level, a full labor market recovery remains a
long way off."
Gross domestic product, however, plunged at a 31.4%
annualized rate in the second quarter, the deepest drop in
output since the government started keeping records in 1947, the
Commerce Department said in its third estimate of GDP.
The euro EUR=EBS was down 0.3% against the dollar at
$1.1712.
Overall the dollar was set for its worst quarter since the
spring of 2017 with a fall of about 3.3% as hopes for a swift
recovery from the COVID-19 economic crash made investors exit
safe havens and buy into riskier currencies.
The dollar rose 0.3% against the Swiss franc to 0.9223
CHF=EBS and was little changed versus the yen at 105.66 yen
JPY=EBS .
========================================================
Currency bid prices at 10:22AM (1422 GMT)
Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid
Previous Change
Session
Euro/Dollar EUR= $1.1724 $1.1742 -0.15% +4.59% +1.1755 +1.1686
Dollar/Yen JPY= 105.6700 105.6400 +0.03% -2.93% +105.8000 +105.4400
Euro/Yen EURJPY= 123.89 124.05 -0.13% +1.59% +124.2400 +123.5600
Dollar/Swiss CHF= 0.9211 0.9192 +0.21% -4.83% +0.9244 +0.9191
Sterling/Dollar GBP= 1.2903 1.2861 +0.33% -2.69% +1.2908 +1.2807
Dollar/Canadian CAD= 1.3358 1.3387 -0.22% +2.86% +1.3420 +1.3354
Australian/Doll AUD= 0.7153 0.7127 +0.36% +1.87% +0.7157 +0.7101
ar
Euro/Swiss EURCHF= 1.0801 1.0796 +0.05% -0.47% +1.0816 +1.0793
Euro/Sterling EURGBP= 0.9084 0.9127 -0.47% +7.45% +0.9157 +0.9084
NZ NZD= 0.6604 0.6586 +0.27% -1.96% +0.6612 +0.6570
Dollar/Dollar
Dollar/Norway NOK= 9.4166 9.4185 -0.02% +7.29% +9.4944 +9.3926
Euro/Norway EURNOK= 11.0425 11.0617 -0.17% +12.24% +11.1141 +11.0390
Dollar/Sweden SEK= 8.9863 8.9580 +0.06% -3.85% +9.0343 +8.9533
Euro/Sweden EURSEK= 10.5368 10.5306 +0.06% +0.65% +10.5735 +10.5204