FOREX-Dollar surges on funding crunch as virus roils global equities

* Graphic: World FX rates in 2020 https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E
* Dollar retains advantage amid coronavirus crisis
* U.S. lawmakers trying to pass fiscal stimulus
* Travel curbs raise risk of global recession

By Stanley White
TOKYO, March 23 (Reuters) - The dollar rose against major
currencies on Monday as fresh declines in global stocks and
worries about tightening liquidity amid the worsening
coronavirus crisis accelerated the flight to cash.
The dollar rose against sterling toward its strongest since
at least 1985. The U.S. currency hit the highest in almost three
years against the euro.
Against the antipodeans, the greenback rose toward a 17-year
high against the Australian dollar and approached an 11-year
peak against the New Zealand dollar as investors dumped riskier
assets.
U.S. stock futures and oil prices came under further
pressure early in Asian trading, which pushed the dollar higher
as more people are placed under lockdown in an effort to contain
the virus, traders said.
Investors are also hoping for big fiscal spending to
mitigate the damage to the global economy, but uncertainty about
the spread of the virus is likely to support the dollar in the
future.
"We've moved from risk off to a phase where major players
are competing with each other for the safety of holding dollars
in cash," said Yukio Ishizuki, FX strategist at Daiwa Securities
in Tokyo.
"There are still a lot of investors who need to sell riskier
assets, and they want to hold their money in dollars."
The dollar rose 0.96% against the pound GBP=D3 to $1.1559,
approaching the strongest since at least 1985.
The dollar gained 0.33% to EUR=EBS $1.0360, the strongest
since April 2017.
The greenback closed in on multi-year highs against the
Australian AUD=D3 and New Zealand NZD=D3 dollars.
Against the yen, the currency rose 0.11% to 110.92.
Investors have been liquidating positions in safe-havens and
other riskier investments to keep their money in dollars due to
the uncertainty caused by the epidemic.
Major central banks have ramped up efforts to ease a global
dollar funding crunch, but the U.S. currency remains in demand
due to the high degree of uncertainty about the unknown flu-like
virus.
The dollar has also surged against many emerging market
currencies, highlighting the growing sense of risk aversion
across the globe.
Early in Asian trading, the dollar rose to a record high
against the Mexican peso MXN= .
So far this year the dollar is up 26% against Brazil's real
BRL= , up around 8% against the Korean won KRW= and up 15%
against the Indonesian rupiah IDR= .
Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Senate are trying to
complete a deal on a $1 trillion-plus bill aimed at stemming the
coronavirus pandemic's economic fallout for workers, industries
and small businesses.
But there was no sign of an overarching deal between
negotiators, despite Republicans' claims of bipartisan agreement
on specific issues including unemployment insurance and small
business assistance.
Nearly one in three Americans were ordered to stay home on
Sunday to slow the spread of the disease, while Italy banned
internal travel as deaths there reached 5,476. U.S. President Donald Trump has approved disaster
deceleration requests from New York and Washington, while St.
Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard warned
unemployment could reach 30% unless more was done fiscally.
Global markets have been upended in recent weeks as the
coronavirus spread from central China and governments responded
with increasingly strict restrictions on travel and daily life,
disrupting businesses and prompting consumers to stay at home
and rein in spending.
The virus has now been reported in more than 100 countries
and has claimed more than 8,000 lives.