FOREX-Australian dollar, offshore yuan rise as risk appetite picks up

* Risk appetite picks up; markets monitoring coronavirus
* Offshore yuan, Australian dollar rise
* Graphic: World FX rates in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh

By Yoruk Bahceli
LONDON, Feb 4 (Reuters) - The Australian dollar and offshore
yuan rose on Tuesday as risk appetite picked up, although the
spread of coronavirus in China remained a threat.
The Australian dollar rose 0.5% to $0.6725 AUD=D3 , pulling
away from a 10 1/2-year low of $0.6670 touched last October,
after the Reserve Bank of Australia left its main cash rate
unchanged at 0.75%.
The offshore yuan gained 0.3% to 6.9905 per dollar CNH= ,
rising from a one-month low of 7.0230 per dollar in European
trade on Monday.
Chinese stocks also ended higher on Tuesday as the central
bank vowed to stabilise the market, after a coronavirus-led rout
that erased almost $400 billion of market value from Shanghai's
benchmark index on Monday. Safe-haven currencies, such as the Japanese yen and Swiss
franc, were down around 0.3% on the day JPY=EBS CHF=EBS .
"Generally we've had this turn-up in risk appetite this
morning," said Rabobank FX strategist Jane Foley.
Other trade-exposed currencies also rose, with the Norwegian
crown up 0.4% to $9.24 NOK=D3 and the New Zealand dollar up
0.1% at $0.6469. NZD=D3
Chinese authorities said the death toll in China rose by a
record 64 from the previous day to 425, mostly in Hubei, the
province where the outbreak is thought to have originated. The
number of cases in China rose by 3,235 to 20,438.
"The big question is, how long this improvement in risk
appetite might last ... unless we see a definite peak in the
number of cases being diagnosed, it's really quite possible that
risk appetite will falter again," Rabobank's Foley said.
Elsewhere, Britain's pound fell to near a six-week low
against the U.S. dollar at $1.2955, extending Monday's losses,
amid renewed fears of a hard Brexit after Prime Minister Boris
Johnson's tough tone on European Union trade talks. It was at a two-week low against the euro at 85.21 pence
EURGBP=D3 . The euro was flat against the dollar at $1.1059
EUR=EBS .
In the United States, Democratic Party officials blamed
"inconsistencies" for an indefinite delay in Iowa's caucus
results. A victory by left-leaning Bernie Sanders
or Elizabeth Warren could hurt shares and boost safe-haven
currencies.
The dollar index =USD rose to 97.882 after gaining 0.44%
on Monday, its the biggest advance this year.