* Dollar gains vs Japanese yen
* Euro slides against greenback
* Aussie dollar, Norwegian krone strengthen
* Graphic: World FX rates in 2020 https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E
(Recasts, adds comments, updates prices)
By David Henry
NEW YORK, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Traders unloaded Japanese yen and bought riskier currencies and the U.S.
dollar on Monday as market confidence in the economy and world trade increased with progress on a COVID-19
vaccine and the prospect of Joe Biden being U.S. president.
The yen JPY=D3 , which had become a favored safe-haven, suffered its biggest loss against the U.S.
dollar since March, with the greenback rising as much as 2.2%. So-called "risk-on" currencies, such as the
Australian dollar and Norwegian krone, strengthened even more.
The moves came after Biden announced his first steps as president and Pfizer Inc's PFE.N and its
German partner BioNTech SE BNTX.O announced that their experimental COVID-19 vaccine was more than 90%
effective in initial trial results in what experts said could be a turning point toward halting the
pandemic. A Biden presidency is expected to shore up international trade through steady policies and the
prospect of a successful coronavirus vaccine is seen as a major tailwind. Much of the move in the yen was an unwinding of earlier trades, said Mazen Issa, senior fx strategist,
at TD Securities. "There were a lot of long-yen positions built into the FX markets going into the
election," he said.
But the U.S. dollar also gained 0.41% against the euro EUR=EBS as markets became more confident that
the vaccine could allow the U.S. economy to grow fast enough to drive up interest rates.
"All of this may be leading to a narrative of U.S. exceptionalism and capital flows into the U.S.
returning," Issa added.
The vaccine news "provided just a tremendous boost for risk appetite," said Ed Moya, senior market
analyst at foreign exchange broker OANDA. "There was a lot of nervousness in investors' expectations for these vaccine trial results, and the
first one out of the gates had an amazing 90% effective rate, far exceeding the consensus," Moya said.
"We're seeing a big reflation trade here."
Joseph Trevisani, senior analyst, FXStreet.com, said higher interest rates could support the dollar.
"Normally, when the U.S. economy does well that supports the dollar. We have not been seeing much of that
in the COVID era."
Bond yields soared in the United States and Europe and major stock indexes
gained as much as 4%. The U.S. dollar gained 0.57% =USD to 92.695 against a basket of currencies =USD , after last week
touching a 10-week low of 92.12.
========================================================
Currency bid prices at 3:12PM (2012 GMT)
Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid
Previous Change
Session
Euro/Dollar EUR=EBS $1.1829 $1.1877 -0.40% +5.51% +1.1920 +1.1795
Dollar/Yen JPY=D3 105.4000 103.2800 +2.05% -2.96% +105.6400 +103.3000
Euro/Yen EURJPY= 124.67 122.69 +1.61% +2.23% +125.1300 +122.7000
Dollar/Swiss CHF=EBS 0.9127 0.9003 +1.37% -5.69% +0.9136 +0.8985
Sterling/Dollar GBP=D3 1.3172 1.3150 +0.17% -0.68% +1.3206 +1.3119
Dollar/Canadian CAD=D3 1.2983 1.3064 -0.60% -0.05% +1.3062 +1.2928
Aussie/Dollar AUD=D3 0.7296 0.7261 +0.49% +3.98% +0.7340 +0.7267
Euro/Swiss EURCHF= 1.0795 1.0686 +1.02% -0.53% +1.0807 +1.0681
Euro/Sterling EURGBP= 0.8979 0.9023 -0.49% +6.21% +0.9048 +0.8981
NZ NZD=D3 0.6832 0.6773 +0.90% +1.56% +0.6854 +0.6785
Dollar/Dollar
Dollar/Norway NOK=D3 9.0110 9.1490 -1.26% +2.99% +9.1620 +8.9690
Euro/Norway EURNOK= 10.6678 10.8500 -1.68% +8.44% +10.9079 +10.6582
Dollar/Sweden SEK= 8.6110 8.6393 -0.72% -7.88% +8.6509 +8.5572
Euro/Sweden EURSEK= 10.1878 10.2616 -0.72% -2.69% +10.2816 +10.1819