FOREX-Dollar stays weak amid signs of lagging U.S. economy

* Euro remains comfortably above $1.18
* Services and composite PMIs due in euro zone, U.S.
* Graphic: World FX rates in 2020 https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E

By Olga Cotaga
LONDON, August 5 (Reuters) - The dollar remained weak on
Wednesday as a U.S. coronavirus relief package stalled in
Congress and U.S. bond yields sank, with investors weighing
prospects of further monetary easing to support the economy.
White House negotiators and congressional Democrats are
trying to reach a deal on a package by the end of this week, ad
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Tuesday that progress
had been made on key components of the bill. A hardening perception that the U.S. economic recovery is
lagging Europe has buttressed the euro, pushing it above $1.19
in the last couple of days.
Early on Wednesday, the common currency traded up 0.1% at
$1.1815 EUR=EBS .
Most other major currencies were also up against the dollar,
pushing its index towards last week's two-year low of 92.53. It
traded at 93.05 =USD as the price for gold surpassed $2,000, a
record high XAU= .
"The ongoing fall in U.S. real yields is helping to lift the
price of gold and weakening the U.S. dollar," said Lee Hardman,
currency analyst at MUFG, adding that the bank had lowered its
forecasts for the dollar on the assumption that the Federal
Reserve will loosen policy further this year.
U.S. 10-year Treasury yields were close to the five-month
low they hit on Tuesday US10YT=RR .
Traders will be watching the euro zone Markit Services final
Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) at 0800 GMT, followed by retail
sales at 0900 GMT.
Economists polled by Reuters see services and composite PMIs
confirmed at 55.1 and 54.8 respectively.
Final U.S. PMI numbers are also due later in the day.
Growth in China's services sector showed signs of a slowdown
in July from a ten-year high the previous month, as new export
business fell and job losses continued, a sister survey showed
on Wednesday, pointing to cracks in the sector's post-COVID
recovery.