* Dollar offered as Biden wins; losses limited by
uncertainty
* AUD, NZD creep ahead by 0.3% but hold below Friday tops
* Graphic: World FX rates in 2020 https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E
By Tom Westbrook
SYDNEY, Nov 9 (Reuters) - The dollar began the week out of
favour, as investors welcomed Joe Biden's election as U.S.
president by buying trade-exposed currencies on the expectation
of a steadier approach to foreign policy, and as U.S. monetary
settings look to be easy for years.
Biden crossed the threshold of the 270 electoral college
votes required for victory on Saturday by winning the
battleground state of Pennsylvania. Against a basket of currencies =USD , the dollar inched
lower on Monday and was a whisker above a ten-week trough.
The Aussie, kiwi, euro and pound rose a little and were just
shy of multi-month peaks made on Friday when markets largely
priced in a Biden victory. That tempered further moves, though
the Chinese yuan CNH=D3 rose a fraction to a 28-month peak.
"The dollar has weakened in anticipation of a Biden
presidency bringing calmer politics ... and anticipation of Fed
coming to the rescue again amid near term risk of rising COVID
infection," said Bank of Singapore FX analyst Moh Siong Sim.
The yuan is particularly sensitive to the outcome because
traders reckon Biden will bring a less confrontational approach,
or at least a more predictable one, to relations with Beijing.
Strong Chinese trade data was also published over the weekend.
The yuan rose about 0.1% in early Asia trade, while the
Aussie AUD=D3 and kiwi NZD=D3 each rose 0.3% and volatility
gauges for most major currencies ebbed. The Aussie rose more
than 3% last week and the yuan more than 1.5%. AUD/ CNY/
Some trepidation remains because Donald Trump, the first
incumbent president to lose a re-election bid in 28 years, has
made no sign of conceding as his campaign has pressed on with
legal fights against the outcome. The final makeup of the Senate also depends on four
undecided races, including two in Georgia that will not be
resolved until runoff votes in January. "We would caution that heightened volatility is not
necessarily behind us, even though the election result is all
but settled," said Commonwealth Bank of Australia currency
analyst Kim Mundy in a note.
Equity markets had registered their biggest weekly gains
since April last week, while the dollar sank as investors bet
Biden would win and Republicans would hold onto the Senate.
That scenario would create a steadier hand in the Oval
Office and a Congress divided would check left-leaning impulses
on taxes or regulations, and probably leave the U.S. Federal
Reserve with plenty of work to do, investors said. "Republican control of the Senate is likely to see them dump
the economic populism of President Trump and pursue a material
decline in the U.S. fiscal deficit, which is set to underpin a
large fiscal drag in 2021," said Matt Sherwood, head of
investment strategy at Perpetual in Sydney.
"That means 2021 growth will now be more dependent on the
U.S. Fed," he said, as well as a coronavirus vaccine, both of
which would be negative for the U.S. dollar.
On the horizon are appearances from Bank of England Governor
Andrew Bailey and chief economist Andy Haldane at 1035 GMT and
1400 GMT, where talk of negative rates is in focus. Dallas Fed
President Robert Kaplan makes a speech at 2200 GMT.
On Wednesday the Reserve Bank of New Zealand meets, with
expectations it will hold rates but lay the framework for going
negative next year.
In emerging markets, the beaten-down Turkish lira
TRYTOM=D3 rose as much as 2% in the wake of the ouster of the
central bank chief and the resignation of Turkey's finance
minister over the weekend. The lira has slid 30% to record lows this year amid the
coronavirus pandemic as investors worried about falling forex
reserves and double-digit inflation.
========================================================
Currency bid prices at 9:23AM in Sydney (2223 GMT)
Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid
Previous Change
Session
Euro/Dollar EUR=EBS $1.1886 $1.1877 +0.09% +6.03% +1.1891 +1.1883
Dollar/Yen JPY=D3 0.0000 103.2800 +0.00% -4.91% +0.0000 +0.0000
Euro/Yen EURJPY= 122.76 122.69 +0.06% +0.66% +122.8700 +122.7400
Dollar/Swiss CHF=EBS 0.8980 0.9003 +0.00% -6.96% +0.8981 +0.0000
Sterling/Dollar GBP=D3 1.3148 1.3150 +0.04% -0.81% +1.3165 +1.3155
Dollar/Canadian CAD=D3 1.3037 1.3064 -0.18% +0.38% +1.3062 +1.3039
Aussie/Dollar AUD=D3 0.7272 0.7261 +0.27% +3.76% +0.7285 +0.7275
NZ NZD=D3 0.6787 0.6773 +0.19% +0.85% +0.6793 +0.6785
Dollar/Dollar
All spots FX=
Tokyo spots AFX=
Europe spots EFX=
Volatilities FXVOL=
Tokyo Forex market info from BOJ TKYFX