FOREX-U.S. dollar gains as global easing gives temporary respite

* Pandemic fears keep FX markets jittery
* Analysts say month-end flows may support dollar
* Offshore yuan weaker after China cuts interbank rate
* Graphic: World FX rates in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh

(Adds comments, updates prices, confirmed cases and death counts)
By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
NEW YORK, March 30 (Reuters) - The dollar advanced on Monday, snapping a week of declines, as
investors braced for prolonged uncertainty and governments tightened lockdowns and launched monetary and
fiscal measures to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
China's offshore yuan fell after the Chinese central bank cut a key interbank interest rate, while
Singapore's central bank aggressively eased monetary policy as well on Monday. The euro, sterling and Australian dollar were all lower, bringing an end to recent rebounds that
followed the Federal Reserve's efforts to calm the safe-haven rush to own the U.S. currency earlier this
month.
"You're starting see other central banks being active, with Singapore, for instance, delivering an
adjustment to its band," said Edward Moya, senior market strategist at OANDA in New York. "All this
follow-through easing around the world is providing a temporary dollar rebound."
Concern about the spreading coronavirus and the economic impact of shutdowns continued to dominate
foreign exchange markets, but price moves on Monday were relatively well contained and much smaller than
in recent sessions.
"This speaks to the volatility of what's going on," said Marc Chandler, chief market strategist, at
Bannockburn Global Forex in New York. "It means people are not making short-term convictions."
In afternoon trading, the dollar index .DXY rose 0.8% to 99.09.
Analysts said investors' end-of-month portfolio rebalancing as well as nervousness about the virus was
also supporting the dollar.
"The U.S. dollar remains strong relative to the beginning of the month, which further reduced the
dollar value of bond and equity markets outside of the U.S.," Barclays said in a research note on
portfolio rebalancing at the end of the month.
"However, the still historic fall in U.S. equity prices dominates and drives the model to produce
strong USD buying signals across the board," it added.
The euro dropped 0.9% to $1.1037 EUR=EBS . Sterling fell 0.9% $1.2366 GBP=D3 .
In the past two weeks, the dollar first posted its biggest weekly rise since the 2008 financial crisis
as investors and companies rushed into the world's most liquid currency, then saw its biggest weekly drop
since 2009. Signs of funding stress have eased but not abated and hard-dollar cash remains in high demand.
The safe-haven Japanese yen JPY=EBS rose marginally, pushing the dollar down 0.1% to 107.88.
Total global deaths from the virus are around 36,870 https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html and the
United States has emerged as the latest epicenter, with more than 157,810 confirmed cases and 2,910
deaths. The dollar gained 0.4% versus the offshore Chinese yuan CNH=EBS to 7.1132 after the People's Bank of
China unexpectedly cut a key interbank interest rate, the seven-day reverse repurchase rate, by 20 basis
points. The Australian dollar dropped sharply before recovering to trade down 0.1% against the greenback at
US$0.6158 AUD=D3 .
The rand ZAR= crumbled to a record low after Moody's cut South Africa's credit rating. Currency bid prices at 2:49PM (1849 GMT)
Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid
Previous Change
Session
Euro/Dollar EUR= $1.1036 $1.1140 -0.93% -1.55% +1.1143 +1.1011
Dollar/Yen JPY= 107.9300 107.8900 +0.04% -0.85% +108.2900 +107.1300
Euro/Yen EURJPY= 119.12 120.21 -0.91% -2.32% +120.0000 +118.8100
Dollar/Swiss CHF= 0.9591 0.9512 +0.83% -0.90% +0.9610 +0.9504
Sterling/Dollar GBP= 1.2386 1.2456 -0.56% -6.58% +1.2467 +1.2319
Dollar/Canadian CAD= 1.4143 1.3977 +1.19% +8.91% +1.4183 +1.3993
Australian/Doll AUD= 0.6158 0.6165 -0.11% -12.29% +0.6184 +0.6113
ar
Euro/Swiss EURCHF= 1.0587 1.0591 -0.04% -2.44% +1.0605 +1.0552
Euro/Sterling EURGBP= 0.8908 0.8950 -0.47% +5.37% +0.8988 +0.8869
NZ NZD= 0.6001 0.6035 -0.56% -10.91% +0.6062 +0.5985
Dollar/Dollar
Dollar/Norway NOK= 10.5524 10.3966 +1.50% +20.21% +10.6724 +10.3630
Euro/Norway EURNOK= 11.6570 11.6825 -0.22% +18.50% +11.8112 +11.5721
Dollar/Sweden SEK= 10.0408 9.8994 +0.55% +7.42% +10.0748 +9.8946
Euro/Sweden EURSEK= 11.0835 11.0233 +0.55% +5.87% +11.1068 +10.9988