FOREX-Commodity currencies slip as OPEC+ output cuts provide little cheer

* Graphic: World FX rates in 2020 https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E
* Investors react to record oil output cuts
* Oil demand collapsing due to coronavirus
* Pandemic encourages risk-off trades

By Stanley White
TOKYO, April 13 (Reuters) - Commodity currencies slipped
against safe-haven units such as the dollar and yen on Monday as
a record output cut agreed by OPEC and other oil producing
nations failed to offset broader concerns about global demand
for resources.
The greenback drifted higher against its Australian and New
Zealand counterparts, which are seen as risk sentiment
barometers, in a sign investors remain concerned about the
global demand for commodities.
Financial markets remain on edge over the spread of the
novel coronavirus pandemic as severe restrictions on personal
movement drag the global economy into a deep recession.
"The initial reaction suggests that the decline in oil
demand is well ahead of the output cuts that were agreed," said
Yukio Ishizuki, FX strategist at Daiwa Securities in Tokyo.
"This is a negative for oil producers. This also encourages
risk-off trading, which should support the yen."
The dollar rose 0.24% against the Norwegian crown NOK=D3
to 10.21 and 0.44% to 23.43 Mexican pesos MXN=D3 .
Against the Canadian dollar CAD=D3 , the U.S. currency held
steady at C$1.3965.
Trading could be somewhat subdued as financial markets in
Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and Britain are closed for
the Easter Monday holiday.
Major oil producers agreed to the output cuts on Sunday to
prop up oil markets amid the coronavirus pandemic. Oil prices had gone into freefall on worries about the virus
and a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia, which was seen
straining the budgets of oil producers and hammering the U.S.
shale industry.
Currencies from Norway, Mexico, and Canada - all major oil
producers - got a boost on Friday as the agreement to cut output
began to take shape, but these gains disappeared on Monday as
investors avoided risk assets.
While oil futures erased early losses to trade higher in
Asia, currency markets showed some investors remain concerned
about excessive risk.
Other currency traders pointed to a decline in U.S. stock
futures as a supportive factor for risk-off trades.
The cautious mood boosted the yen, which is sometimes sought
as a safe-haven because of Japan's current account surplus.
The yen JPY=EBS rose 0.18% to 108.31 per dollar in Asia on
Monday and jumped more than 0.3% against the Australian
AUDJPY= and New Zealand currencies NZDJPY= .
Against the safe-haven Swiss franc CHF=EBS , the greenback
held steady at 0.9656.
The dollar traded at $1.0936 per euro EUR=EBS , near its
lowest level in more than a week.
Further declines in the dollar may be limited with
speculative net short positions in the U.S. currency having
risen to their highest since May 2018, according to calculations
by Reuters and U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data.
The Australian dollar AUD=D3 fell 0.29% to $0.6329,
pulling back from a four-week high, while the New Zealand dollar
NZD=D3 fell 0.21% to $0.6072 as investors shunned risky
trades.