FOREX-Dollar hits 2-week high on yen, yuan up after China-U.S. trade call

* Dollar/yen blips up on U.S.-China phone talk
* British pound supported by hopes of end to hung parliament
* Implied volatilities plunge as traders see more range
trade
* Graphic: World FX rates in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh

By Hideyuki Sano
TOKYO, Nov 26 (Reuters) - A telephone call between top U.S.
and Chinese trade negotiators lifted the dollar to a two-week
high against the yen while China's yuan edged up on Tuesday,
due to optimism that the two sides will soon agree an interim
deal to halt their trade war.
Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, U.S. Trade representative
Robert Lighthizer and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin
discussed issues related to a "phase one" trade agreement and
agreed to maintain communication on remaining issues.
The dollar rose as high as 109.205 yen JPY= , its strongest
in two weeks, before settling back at 109.01 yen to show a gain
of 0.1% from the previous close.
The yuan also rose to 7.240 to the dollar CNY=CFXS , about
0.15% higher than the previous close.
"It wasn't like they agreed to the phase one deal. They just
agreed to continue their talk. So some people appeared to have
been caught in long position a bit too much," said Shingo Sato,
director of forex at MUFG Bank.
"Still, the bottom line is, we just had additional support
to back up optimism since last week on the trade deal," he said.
On Monday, China's Global Times, a tabloid run by the ruling
Communist Party's official People's Daily, said the two
countries were very close to a "phase one" trade deal.
"China appears positive to the deal. The dollar could rise
further to around 109.50 if U.S. officials will visit China,"
said Yukio Ishizuki, senior strategist at Daiwa Securities.
Last week, the Chinese government invited Lighthizer and
Mnuchin to Beijing for face-to-face talks, the Wall Street
Journal reported.
"Trading in the next couple of weeks will be all about the
U.S.-China deal," said Daiwa's Ishizuki.
The euro softened to $1.1008 EUR= , near the one-week low
of $1.10035 touched on Monday.
Sterling traded at $1.2894 GBP=D4 , supported by hopes that
the ruling Conservatives could win a majority in the Dec. 12
election to end a hung parliament.
Against the euro, the British unit stood at 85.365 pence per
euro, near a six-month high of 85.22 touched Monday last week.
The Australian dollar fetched $0.6772 AUD=D4 , having
touched a one-month low of $0.6768 overnight.
Despite rising hopes of U.S.-China trade deal, the Aussie
has been pressured by a run of disappointing local economic data
that has led investors to narrow the odds on another rate cut
from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).
Overall, currency trading is slowing down ahead of U.S.
Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday.
Traders are also increasingly pricing in tighter trading
ranges for major currencies, based on implied volatilities.
One-month euro/dollar implied volatility has fallen to
4.15/4.40% EUR1MO= , the lowest in five years, while
three-month volatility hit a record low of 4.4/4.6% EUR3MO= .
The dollar/yen's three-month volatility also stood at
4.775/5.025% JPY1MO= , the lowest since late April and near its
historical lows above 4% while three-month volatility on the
Australian dollar hit five-year low of 6.12/6.42% AUD3MO= .