(Corrects milestone in first paragraph to refer to change in
yuan midpoint, rather than its absolute level)
* Dollar index languishing near 2-1/2-year low
* Greenback earlier got respite amid virus surge
* Graphic: World FX rates in 2020 https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E
By Kevin Buckland
TOKYO, Jan 5 (Reuters) - The dollar fell against major peers
on Tuesday as China raised its official yuan exchange rate by
the biggest margin since abandoning its peg in 2005, which
helped support demand for other units.
The Australian dollar led gains in major currencies as the
move by the People's Bank of China (PBOC) encouraged broad
dollar selling.
Earlier, the greenback had found support as concerns about
surging COVID-19 cases and uncertainty about U.S. runoff
elections in Georgia spurred a retreat in U.S. stocks from
record highs to start the year and kindled demand for safer
assets.
While investor caution about the yuan's heady rally prompted
some later selling in the Chinese currency on Tuesday, the
PBOC's action nonetheless lifted risk sentiment in currency
markets.
"If the Chinese currency is going up, it's providing a
degree of support for Asian currencies in general, and I suspect
that's why the U.S. dollar is partially reversing the gains that
we saw from Wall Street time," said Ray Attrill, head of FX
strategy at National Australia Bank in Sydney.
"It's a very big move by any historical yardstick, and I
don't think you can ignore that."
The PBOC set the official yuan midpoint CNY=PBOC at 6.4760
per dollar prior to the market open, 1% firmer than the previous
fix, the biggest change since 2005. In the offshore market, the yuan strengthened as far as
6.4419 CNH=EBS for the first time since June 2018. It started
the week at 6.4944.
The Aussie dollar, a barometer of risk appetite that also
tends to follow the yuan, jumped 0.5% to 77.022 U.S. cents
AUD= in the Asian session, approaching the 2-1/2-year high of
77.43 touched on the final day of 2020.
The dollar index weakened 0.2% to 89.731. It dropped as low
as 89.415 on Monday for the first time since April 2018, but
ended the day with a 0.1% gain after U.S. stocks slid.
"Until the vaccines are rolled out globally, the market will
continue to be driven by COVID headlines, so it's a bit of a
volatile time," said Shinichiro Kadota, senior currency
strategist at Barclays Capital in Tokyo.
"But generally positive risk sentiment should continue this
year, and with that, dollar continues to weaken against riskier
currencies. We expect Chinese yuan to be one of the
outperformers."
The dollar fell 0.1% to 103.010 yen JPY=EBS . It dropped as
low as 102.715 on Monday for the first time since March.
The euro rose 0.1% to $1.22690 EUR=EBS after reaching
$1.231 on Monday, a level not seen since April 2018.
The British pound gained 0.1% to $1.3583 GBP= .
Sterling has been swung by a surge in infections of a
fast-spreading new coronavirus strain in the UK, with Prime
Minister Boris Johnson ordering a nationwide lockdown.
It slid 0.73% on Monday, the most since Dec. 10, after
earlier rising to $1.3703, a level not seen since May 2018.
Bitcoin traded at $31,407 BTC=BTSP following a
roller-coaster ride to start the new year that took it to a
record high of $34,800 on Sunday, followed by a tumble to as low
as $27,734 the following session.
========================================================
Currency bid prices at 1:34PM (434 GMT)
Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid
Previous Change
Session
Euro/Dollar EUR=EBS $1.2267 $1.2252 +0.13% +0.40% +1.2277 +1.2247
Dollar/Yen JPY=D3 103.0100 103.1750 -0.05% -0.17% +103.1750 +103.0850
Euro/Yen EURJPY= 126.37 126.33 +0.03% -0.43% +126.5500 +126.3200
Dollar/Swiss CHF=EBS 0.8804 0.8812 -0.10% -0.50% +0.8816 +0.8800
Sterling/Dollar GBP=D3 1.3580 1.3562 +0.15% -0.59% +1.3594 +1.3562
Dollar/Canadian CAD=D3 1.2757 1.2775 -0.11% +0.21% +1.2788 +1.2740
Aussie/Dollar AUD=D3 0.7693 0.7665 +0.39% +0.03% +0.7708 +0.7661
NZ NZD=D3 0.7206 0.7175 +0.49% +0.40% +0.7211 +0.7170
Dollar/Dollar
All spots FX=
Tokyo spots AFX=
Europe spots EFX=
Volatilities FXVOL=
Tokyo Forex market info from BOJ TKYFX