FOREX-Dollar jumps as investors seek safety after dismal U.S. data

* Graphic: World FX rates in 2020 https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E

(New throughout; changes dateline, previous LONDON)
By Kate Duguid
NEW YORK, April 15 (Reuters) - Bleak U.S. retail sales
figures and a dramatic drop in New York state manufacturing data
sent the dollar higher on Wednesday as investors fled risk
assets for safe havens.
Wednesday's data underlined growing investor fears that the
damage to the global economy from the coronavirus outbreak will
be long and protracted.
The U.S. dollar index =USD , which had fallen in the four
previous trading days, rose as high as 99.98, but had returned
some of those gains later in the morning, last trading up 0.81%.
Against other traditional safe havens the dollar fell
modestly: It was last down 0.25% against the Japanese yen JPY=
and 0.54% weaker against the Swiss franc CHF= .
The Commerce Department on Wednesday reported that U.S.
retail sales suffered a record drop in March as mandatory
business closures to control the spread of the novel coronavirus
outbreak depressed demand for a range of goods, setting up
consumer spending for its worst decline in decades. The New York Federal Reserve also reported on Wednesday that
its Empire State manufacturing index, which tracks activity in
the sector for New York State, fell to an all-time low that was
more than double the consensus Wall Street forecast.
"The dollar caught a stronger tailwind as record weak U.S.
data added to global gloom and kept investors chasing safer
bets," wrote Joe Manimbo, senior market analyst at Western Union
Business Solutions.
"The data is consistent with the coronavirus taking a
growing toll on the world's biggest economy."
The global economy is expected to shrink by 3% during 2020,
a collapse in activity that will mark its steepest fall since
the Great Depression of the 1930s, the International Monetary
Fund said on Tuesday. A fall in oil prices on expectations that production cuts by
OPEC may not be enough to support crude during a global demand
crunch also weakened riskier currencies, with the oil-exposed
Norwegian crown and Canadian dollar down sharply. O/R
The Norwegian crown NOK= fell almost 2% against the U.S.
dollar, while the Canadian dollar CAD= was down more than 1.5%
versus the greenback.
The Bank of Canada on Wednesday said the coronavirus
outbreak was set to trigger the biggest ever near-term Canadian
slump. The central bank held interest rates steady at 0.25% as
expected, added provincial and corporate bonds to its
quantitative easing program, and said it "stands ready to adjust
the scale or duration of its programs if necessary".
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