* Dollar rises to one-year high on cusp of 111 yen
* Euro sinks to fresh five-month low near $1.17
* Bitcoin tops $59,000 as PayPal launches crypto service
* Graphic: World FX rates https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E
By Kevin Buckland
TOKYO, March 31 (Reuters) - The dollar rose to a fresh
one-year high versus the yen and multi-month peaks with other
rivals on Wednesday as investors bet that massive fiscal
stimulus and aggressive vaccinations will help the United States
lead a global pandemic recovery.
President Joe Biden is set to outline later on Wednesday how
he intends to pay for a $3-$4 trillion infrastructure plan,
after earlier this week saying 90% of adult Americans would be
eligible for vaccination by April 19. The dollar index =USD rose as far as 93.435, the highest
in almost five months. It has climbed from close to 90 at the
start of March, on course for its best month since 2016.
The greenback set a fresh one-year top of 110.97 yen JPY=
and marked an almost five-month high of $1.1705 per euro =EUR .
"U.S. economic outperformance can continue to underpin the
USD in the near term," Commonwealth Bank of Australia currency
strategist Carol Kong wrote in a client note.
"JPY will be driven by the general USD strengthening trend,"
potentially rising to 113 by year-end, she said.
The dollar was also supported from a spike in U.S. bond
yields, which make the currency more attractive as an
investment.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note US10YT=RR
jumped to a one-year high of 1.776% on Tuesday.
Investors will watch closely monthly U.S. nonfarm payrolls
data on Friday, with Federal Reserve policymakers so far citing
slack in the jobs market for their continued lower-for-longer
stance on interest rates, which has boosted the growth outlook
but also stoked worries about inflation.
Data overnight showed U.S. consumer confidence soared this
month to the highest since the start of the pandemic, supporting
views that economic growth will accelerate in the coming months,
driven by more fiscal stimulus and an improving public health
situation. Australia's dollar AUD= edged up to $0.76025,
consolidating after its drop to $0.7564 last week, the lowest
level seen this year.
The Chinese yuan CNH= traded around 6.57 per dollar in the
offshore market, from the weakest since November at 6.5838,
touched on both Monday and Tuesday.
Bitcoin briefly topped $59,000, trying to close the distance
to the record peak at $61,781.83 set earlier this month.
PayPal Holdings PYPL.O said Tuesday it launched a
"Checkout with Crypto" service, which will allow U.S. users to
use their cryptocurrency holdings to pay online merchants
worldwide, adding to the growing global acceptance of the
digital tokens on both Wall Street and Main Street.
"The big companies have to question whether they can afford
to ignore it anymore," Julius de Kempenaer, senior analyst at
StockCharts.com, said about bitcoin, which has already doubled
in value this year.
He said his first target was for the token to rise above
$70,000, but that considering the current momentum, "the best
thing to do is just follow the trend and let the market tell you
where it's going to end."
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Currency bid prices at 042 GMT
Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid
Previous Change
Session
Euro/Dollar EUR=EBS $1.1722 $1.1716 +0.06% -4.05% +1.1726 +1.1714
Dollar/Yen JPY=D3 110.6050 110.3400 +0.25% +7.09% +110.6070 +110.4500
Euro/Yen EURJPY= 129.65 129.28 +0.29% +2.15% +129.6500 +129.2600
Dollar/Swiss CHF=EBS 0.9428 0.9419 +0.06% +6.53% +0.9428 +0.9425
Sterling/Dollar GBP=D3 1.3740 1.3742 +0.03% +0.61% +1.3747 +1.3738
Dollar/Canadian CAD=D3 1.2614 1.2629 -0.11% -0.93% +1.2628 +1.2615
Aussie/Dollar AUD=D3 0.7611 0.7597 +0.20% -1.05% +0.7615 +0.7595
NZ NZD=D3 0.6988 0.6983 +0.11% -2.65% +0.6995 +0.6983
Dollar/Dollar
All spots FX=
Tokyo spots AFX=
Europe spots EFX=
Volatilities FXVOL=
Tokyo Forex market info from BOJ TKYFX
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World FX rates https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E
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