* Dollar index on pace to snap 2-day rising streak
* Top Senate Democrat says COVID-19 relief talks 'moving in
the
right direction'
(New throughout, updates prices, market activity and comments
to U.S. afternoon trading)
By Caroline Valetkevitch and Saqib Iqbal Ahmed
NEW YORK, Aug 4 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar edged lower in
choppy trade against a basket of currencies on Tuesday, choking
off a recent rally fueled by dollar bears taking profits on
short positions, while investors watched talks in Washington on
the next round of coronavirus relief.
After its biggest monthly decline in a decade in July, the
greenback started August on a firmer note as some investors
trimmed short positions.
But the immediate outlook for the dollar remains tied partly
to relief aid talks in Washington and the economic impact of new
virus cases in the United States.
The White House and Democratic congressional leaders have
reported some progress in discussions over a fifth major
coronavirus aid bill, but they remain apart on a range of
issues. The U.S. Dollar Currency Index =USD , which measures the
greenback's strength against six major currencies, was 0.16%
lower after rising 0.6% over the previous two sessions.
"While a consolidation or a modest corrective rebound was
inevitable after the sharp fall last month, market sentiment
towards the dollar remains negative due to dominating concerns
about the scale of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. and its
devastating impact on the economy," Piotr Matys, senior emerging
markets FX Strategist at Rabobank, said in a note.
Despite a slowdown in new U.S. virus cases and encouraging
factory data, investors remained concerned about the U.S.
economy. The next big U.S. data points will be weekly jobless
claims and the July U.S. employment report this week, said Boris
Schlossberg, managing director of FX strategy at BK Asset
Management in New York.
The Aussie dollar AUD=D3 was up 0.44% after the Australian
central bank held policy steady. ========================================================
Currency bid prices at 2:59PM (1859 GMT)
Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid
Previous Change
Session
Euro/Dollar EUR= $1.1780 $1.1761 +0.16% +0.00% +1.1806 +1.1722
Dollar/Yen JPY= 105.7700 105.9400 -0.16% +0.00% +106.1900 +105.7200
Euro/Yen EURJPY= 124.61 124.61 +0.00% +0.00% +125.0100 +124.2700
Dollar/Swiss CHF= 0.9145 0.9177 -0.35% +0.00% +0.9191 +0.9142
Sterling/Dollar GBP= 1.3054 1.3072 -0.14% +0.00% +1.3107 +1.2982
Dollar/Canadian CAD= 1.3347 1.3389 -0.31% +0.00% +1.3420 +1.3346
Australian/Doll AUD= 0.7152 0.7123 +0.44% +0.00% +0.7158 +0.7106
ar
Euro/Swiss EURCHF= 1.0774 1.0793 -0.18% +0.00% +1.0810 +1.0740
Euro/Sterling EURGBP= 0.9024 0.8994 +0.33% +0.00% +0.9040 +0.8991
NZ NZD= 0.6608 0.6610 -0.03% +0.00% +0.6624 +0.6590
Dollar/Dollar
Dollar/Norway NOK= 9.1076 9.1306 -0.25% +0.00% +9.1671 +9.0887
Euro/Norway EURNOK= 10.7316 10.7410 -0.09% +0.00% +10.7700 +10.7128
Dollar/Sweden SEK= 8.7400 8.7394 +0.10% +0.00% +8.7850 +8.7184
Euro/Sweden EURSEK= 10.2971 10.2867 +0.10% +0.00% +10.3044 +10.2744
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GRAPHIC: World FX rates in 2020 https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E
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