FOREX-Dollar grinds higher on hopes for tariff delay; Swedish crown surges

* Mkts wait for Fed, ECB, meetings, trade deadline
* Swedish crown surges on inflation surprise
* Sterling stung by latest election poll
* Graphic: World FX rates in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh

By Tommy Reggiori Wilkes
LONDON, Dec 11 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar clawed higher on
Wednesday as investors awaited the outcome of the Federal
Reserve meeting and drew some support from hopes that U.S.
President Donald Trump will delay the imposition of tariffs on
Chinese goods.
The notable movers in foreign exchange markets were the
Swedish crown that surged after higher-than-expected inflation
numbers, and the British pound, which shed 0.3% after a poll
showed the ruling Conservative Party's lead narrowing.
FX markets were broadly range-bound, however, with investors
awaiting Thursday's British general election, a European Central
Bank meeting and the Dec. 15 trade deadline.
Wednesday sees little in the way of key economic data, with
the big policy and political events of the next 48 hours the
main focus for markets.
The dollar rose 0.2% against a basket of currencies .DXY
and 0.1% versus the euro to $1.1080 EUR=EBS , helped by a Wall
Street Journal report of officials from both the United States
and China saying the groundwork was being laid to push back the
tariff deadline. "The trade negotiations will be key. You could argue there
is a degree of complacency here," said Neil Mellor, an FX
analyst at BNY Mellon.
Mellor said he thought the Federal Reserve meeting would be
a "damp squib", while Christine Lagarde's first policy meeting
at ECB chief was unlikely to produce any fireworks.
Economic uncertainty stemming from the U.S.-China trade war
has prompted the U.S. Federal Reserve to cut interest rates
three times this year. It is almost unanimously expected to
leave interest rates unchanged on Wednesday. Sterling's recent rally came to a halt after the latest poll
pointed to a tighter election race in Britain than many
investors have expected.
The pound was last down 0.3% at $1.3120 GBP=D3 , while
against the euro it was 0.2% lower at 84.485 pence EURGBP=D3 .
"With regards to both the U.K. election and U.S.-China
talks, markets have been leaning towards optimism recently.
Therefore we need to be careful about market reactions if those
expectations do not materialise," said Kyosuke Suzuki, director
of foreign exchange at Societe Generale.
Sweden's crown enjoyed a bounce after stronger than expected
consumer price inflation data for November. The euro fell 0.6%
versus the crown to 10.479 crowns EURSEK=D3 , a 7-1/2 month
high for the Swedish currency. The dollar was unchanged against the Japanese yen at 108.75
JPY=EBS
The New Zealand dollar slipped 0.3% to $0.6526 NZD=D4 as
profit-taking overshadowed upbeat data and the promise of fiscal
stimulus by Wellington. AUD/