By John McCrank
NEW YORK, Oct 23 (Reuters) - The dollar eased against a
basket of major currencies on Friday following the final U.S.
presidential debate, with fading prospects for a coronavirus
relief package before the Nov. 3 elections pulling the greenback
toward a weekly decline.
Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger
Joe Biden squared off on Friday in a less raucous debate than
their previous meeting, but tensions were still high, with a
focus on the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and plenty of
personal attacks thrown into the mix. "It was certainly more productive than the first one, but I
don't think there was any meaningful shakeup in the outlook for
the election," said Joe Manimbo, senior market analyst at
Western Union Business Solutions.
The market is looking at a potential Biden victory as
setting the stage for a more robust post-election rescue
package, which is reducing the demand for the safe-haven
greenback, he added.
The dollar index =USD was last down 0.13%, bringing it
nearly 1% lower for the week.
Given the potential risk of a contested election result, the
dollar is likely to be confined to the range it has been in for
the last several weeks, Manimbo said.
In Europe, business surveys in France and Germany showed the
impact of the second wave of COVID-19 infections in the euro
zone's two biggest economies, threatening to derail the bloc's
nascent recovery. Despite the data, the euro EUR= edged higher 0.2% against
the greenback to $1.1844.
"The PMIs weren't good, but they weren't as bad as expected,
and that's the important point," said Marshall Gittler, head of
investment research at BDSwiss Group.
"Furthermore, stock prices are being boosted by some good
earnings reports from Daimler, Barclays and others, and that's
encouraging a 'risk-on' mood in FX too," he added.
The euro also firmed after Reuters reported that France was
laying the groundwork for a fisheries compromise to help the
European Union strike a Brexit deal with Britain. Sterling also gained on the report, before easing back to
1.3065, down 0.12% against the dollar.
The safe-haven yen JPY=D3 dipped 0.15% to 104.76 per
dollar following comments on Thursday by U.S. House of
Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi that stimulus talks had
made progress.
The Chinese yuan CNY= ticked down 0.11% against the dollar
after an official at China's foreign exchange regulator said it
has been more stable than expected, suggesting authorities are
not too worried about its recent rise. The yuan has gained about 7.5% since the end of May as China
led the global coronavirus recovery. CNY/
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Currency bid prices at 9:52AM (1352 GMT)
Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid
Previous Change
Session
Euro/Dollar EUR=EBS $1.1840 $1.1819 +0.18% +5.62% +1.1860 +1.1787
Dollar/Yen JPY=D3 104.7600 104.9250 -0.15% -3.54% +104.9300 +104.5800
Euro/Yen EURJPY= 124.03 123.93 +0.08% +1.71% +124.2100 +123.4200
Dollar/Swiss CHF=EBS 0.9049 0.9072 -0.25% -6.49% +0.9092 +0.9035
Sterling/Dollar GBP=D3 1.3065 1.3083 -0.12% -1.48% +1.3121 +1.3051
Dollar/Canadian CAD=D3 1.3136 1.3139 -0.02% +1.12% +1.3157 +1.3110
Aussie/Dollar AUD=D3 0.7117 0.7118 +0.01% +1.45% +0.7158 +0.7103
Euro/Swiss EURCHF= 1.0712 1.0720 -0.07% -1.29% +1.0726 +1.0703
Euro/Sterling EURGBP= 0.9061 0.9027 +0.38% +7.18% +0.9074 +0.9022
NZ NZD=D3 0.6676 0.6675 +0.00% -0.80% +0.6704 +0.6657
Dollar/Dollar
Dollar/Norway NOK=D3 9.2415 9.2585 -0.10% +5.44% +9.2935 +9.2045
Euro/Norway EURNOK= 10.9410 10.9329 +0.07% +11.21% +10.9675 +10.9042
Dollar/Sweden SEK= 8.7567 8.7509 +0.04% -6.32% +8.7933 +8.7345
Euro/Sweden EURSEK= 10.3690 10.3651 +0.04% -0.96% +10.3825 +10.3519