FOREX-Dollar holds gains, oil currencies fall after Trump positive COVID test

* Dollar and safe-haven yen up amid selloff of risky assets
* Commodities-exposed currencies under pressure
* Graphic: World FX rates in 2020 https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E

By Iain Withers
LONDON, Oct 2 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar and the safe-haven
Japanese yen clung to their earlier gains on Friday after U.S.
President Donald Trump's positive test for COVID-19 spooked
investors, just a month before November's presidential election.
Trump said on Twitter he and his wife Melania had tested
positive for COVID-19 and would begin quarantine and recovery
immediately.
The news sparked a selloff with European stocks falling
before paring some of their losses. The yen made its sharpest gain in more than a month to reach
a one-week high of 104.95 and was last up 0.4% on the day.
JPY=EBS Implied volatility gauges for the yen over the next
month rose, signaling more choppy trading ahead.
Currencies seen as riskier bets fell across the board, with
a fall in oil prices also pressuring the commodities-exposed
Russian rouble, South African rand and Australian dollar. RUB=
ZAR= AUD=D3
"The president of the United States has got a disease which
kills people. People are de-risking because of that," said Chris
Weston, head of research at Melbourne brokerage Pepperstone.
Analysts at MUFG said Trump's COVID infection added "another
layer of uncertainty" to the forthcoming election.
"The COVID infection of President Trump will certainly
diminish risk appetite," they added in a note.
Investors had already been on edge on signs that a hoped-for
U.S. fiscal stimulus package was stalled in Washington, and were
nervously awaiting U.S. jobs data due at 1230 GMT for a read on
the economy.
U.S. hiring likely increased by 850,000 jobs in September,
according to a Reuters survey of economists, a slowdown from the
previous month.
Against a basket of six major currencies =USD the dollar
rose 0.1%, but remains down 0.8% for the week - its biggest
weekly drop since late August. The euro EUR=EBS fell 0.3%.
Sterling gained on news British prime minister Boris Johnson
will speak with European Commission President Ursula von der
Leyen on Saturday, with traders hoping this may help break an
impasse in Brexit talks. GBP=D3 The pound was last up 0.2%, after whipsawing throughout the
week in choppy trade during a sensitive period for negotiations.
Analysts said the next dollar moves would depend on Trump's
health, how far the virus has spread amongst top U.S. officials
and politicians and on voters' response.
"As far as we know Trump is not gravely ill. It is possible
that by the time we reach New York trading that markets will
have calmed down," said Ayako Sero, strategist at Sumitomo
Mitsui Trust Bank in Tokyo.
"However, this does damage Trump's ability to campaign and
time is running out before the election."