(Adds quote, updates prices, new byline, changes dateline,
previous LONDON)
* Graphic: World FX rates in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
By Karen Brettell
NEW YORK, March 24 (Reuters) - The dollar fell broadly on
Tuesday after the U.S. Federal Reserve on Monday committed to
buy an unlimited amount of bonds and as investors were
optimistic the American government would pass a stimulus package
to offset the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Against a basket of its rivals =USD , the dollar fell 0.42%
to 101.71. It is down from a more than three-year high of 102.99
on Friday.
"The Fed's measures are unprecedented, and they have been
extremely proactive in preventing this external shock from
morphing into a wider funding crisis," said Vasileios Gkionakis,
head of FX strategy at Lombard Odier.
The Fed on Monday announced various programs, including
purchases of corporate bonds, guarantees for direct loans to
companies and a plan to get credit to small and medium-sized
business. While the Fed's latest measures were seen to have
effectively broken the spreading freeze in the dollar funding
markets in the short term, the shock to the real economy is
expected to last for a far longer period. The U.S. Senate could pass a $2 trillion coronavirus
economic stimulus package as soon as Tuesday, negotiators said,
which analysts say is needed to blunt the economic harm from
business shutdowns. Ulrich Leuchtmann, head of foreign exchange and commodity
research at Commerzbank, said in a note that, as more economies
enact draconian measures to lock down their economies, the
global economy would be massively constrained in the near future
and markets could quickly turn back into risk-off mode.
"While we think that most currencies will eventually regain
much of the ground that they have recently lost to the U.S.
dollar, we don't expect that process to start until the pandemic
has clearly passed its worst," Oliver Allen, assistant economist
at Capital Economics, said in a report.
Against the dollar, the euro EUR= jumped 0.82% to $1.0809.
Some more relief was also evident in dollar funding markets,
with measures of short-term funding indicators such as
euro-dollar FX swaps for three-month maturities EURCBS3M=ICAP
stabilizing around 8 basis points after blowing out to more than
100 bps last week.
The British pound also rose 1.72% to $1.1747 GBP= , up from
a 35-year low of $1.1413 set last week.
The Australian dollar gained 1.53% to $0.5916 AUD= ,
extending its recovery from a 17-year low of $0.5510 last week.
========================================================
Currency bid prices at 10:19AM (1419 GMT)
Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid
Previous Change
Session
Euro/Dollar EUR= $1.0809 $1.0721 +0.82% -3.60% +1.0887 +1.0724
Dollar/Yen JPY= 111.1300 111.2000 -0.06% +2.09% +111.2800 +110.1000
Euro/Yen EURJPY= 120.12 119.30 +0.69% -1.50% +120.5200 +118.8400
Dollar/Swiss CHF= 0.9797 0.9845 -0.49% +1.23% +0.9850 +0.9720
Sterling/Dollar GBP= 1.1747 1.1548 +1.72% -11.40% +1.1790 +1.1511
Dollar/Canadian CAD= 1.4444 1.4496 -0.36% +11.23% +1.4532 +1.4375
Australian/Doll AUD= 0.5916 0.5827 +1.53% -15.74% +0.5974 +0.5813
ar
Euro/Swiss EURCHF= 1.0588 1.0560 +0.27% -2.43% +1.0598 +1.0558
Euro/Sterling EURGBP= 0.9202 0.9286 -0.90% +8.85% +0.9326 +0.9191
NZ NZD= 0.5796 0.5720 +1.33% -13.97% +0.5839 +0.5693
Dollar/Dollar
Dollar/Norway NOK= 11.0961 11.5363 -3.82% +26.40% +11.5981 +10.8613
Euro/Norway EURNOK= 11.9950 12.4180 -3.41% +21.93% +12.4770 +11.7980
Dollar/Sweden SEK= 10.1722 10.3150 -1.20% +8.82% +10.3722 +10.1223
Euro/Sweden EURSEK= 10.9961 11.1300 -1.20% +5.03% +11.1280 +10.9940
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Euro positions https://reut.rs/2QG2y7E
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>