* Graphic: World FX rates in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
* Dollar eases after ferocious rally
* Cross currency swaps show continuing strains
(New throughout, updates prices, market activity and comments
to U.S. market open, new byline, changes dateline, previous
LONDON)
By Karen Brettell
NEW YORK, March 20 (Reuters) - The dollar eased on Friday
after a rally that put it on track for its biggest weekly rise
since the 2008 financial crisis, as a global scramble for dollar
funding sent other currencies reeling.
Currencies from the Australian dollar AUD= to the British
pound GBP= tumbled to multi-year lows this week, after
coordinated rate cuts by central banks and billions of dollars
of fund injections failed to calm panicky markets.
But Friday restored some calm after days of selling.
“The dollar has taken a rotation lower following
interventions and the threat of interventions over the last
day,” analysts at Action Economics said in a report on Friday.
From Brazil to Norway, policymakers are leaping to defend
their currencies against the onslaught of the dollar.
On Friday six major central banks announced a coordinated
action to enhance liquidity in the greenback by increasing the
frequency of their currency swap operations. “For many countries with borrowings in dollars, the massive
depreciation in their domestic currencies, and strength in the
dollar, has been increasingly threatening at a time when most
emerging market and developed-world economies are either headed
to or are already in recession,” Action Economics said.
The U.S. dollar is up about 4% against a basket of
currencies =USD through a week when investors have liquidated
everything from stocks to bonds to gold and commodities. At its
three-year peak of nearly 103 hit overnight, the dollar was up
more than 5%, its biggest weekly gain since October 2008.
Gauges of expected market swings in the euro for one-month
maturities EUR1MO= edged lower, after hitting a more than
three-year high on Thursday.
Some funding indicators, however, showed that strains
remain.
The premium over interbank rates that investors were paying
to swap yen for one-year dollar funding JPYCBS1Y= was elevated
at around 52 basis points.
The FRA-OIS spread USDF-O0X1=R , a barometer of risk in the
interbank market, edged higher on Friday to 97 basis points.
"While FX volatility is lower and currency basis swaps are
less scary for example, the situation remains stressed," said
Kit Juckes, a strategist at Societe Generale in London.
Sterling GBP= was among the major gainers, rising 3.42%
from a 35-year low to $1.1878.
The Australian dollar jumped 2.19% to $0.5867.
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Currency bid prices at 10:27AM (1427 GMT)
Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid
Previous Change
Session
Euro/Dollar EUR= $1.0725 $1.0690 +0.33% -4.33% +1.0831 +1.0654
Dollar/Yen JPY= 110.7000 110.6900 +0.01% +1.69% +111.3500 +109.3200
Euro/Yen EURJPY= 118.75 118.35 +0.34% -2.62% +118.9500 +117.8600
Dollar/Swiss CHF= 0.9821 0.9858 -0.38% +1.48% +0.9890 +0.9746
Sterling/Dollar GBP= 1.1878 1.1485 +3.42% -10.42% +1.1888 +1.1414
Dollar/Canadian CAD= 1.4251 1.4510 -1.78% +9.74% +1.4536 +1.4151
Australian/Doll AUD= 0.5867 0.5741 +2.19% -16.44% +0.5986 +0.5666
ar
Euro/Swiss EURCHF= 1.0535 1.0541 -0.06% -2.92% +1.0557 +1.0527
Euro/Sterling EURGBP= 0.9030 0.9308 -2.99% +6.78% +0.9338 +0.9027
NZ NZD= 0.5761 0.5671 +1.59% -14.47% +0.5880 +0.5613
Dollar/Dollar
Dollar/Norway NOK= 11.2866 11.2486 +0.34% +28.57% +11.4605 +10.8044
Euro/Norway EURNOK= 12.1110 12.0280 +0.69% +23.11% +12.1390 +11.6061
Dollar/Sweden SEK= 10.2621 10.3884 -0.87% +9.79% +10.4290 +10.2151
Euro/Sweden EURSEK= 11.0078 11.1048 -0.87% +5.14% +11.1356 +10.9960