FOREX-Pound down after coronavirus-stricken Johnson taken to hospital for tests

* Graphic: World FX rates in 2020 https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E
* Sterling shaken after PM Johnson admitted to hospital
* Japan on brink of state of emergency
* Oil currencies rattled by failure to end price war

By Stanley White
TOKYO, April 6 (Reuters) - The pound fell against the dollar
and euro on Monday after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson
was admitted to hospital for tests after showing persistent
symptoms of the coronavirus.
The yen eased against the dollar after Japanese domestic
media reported Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may declare a state of
emergency as early as Tuesday to curb an alarming acceleration
in coronavirus infections.
The dollar was on the back foot against the euro after data
last week showed companies in the United States shed jobs at
break-neck speed as the COVID-19 pandemic leads the global
economy to a deep recession.
"When a head of state or government is stricken like this,
it will cause concern for holders of sterling and sterling
assets," said Masafumi Yamamoto, chief currency strategist at
Mizuho Securities in Tokyo.
"Coronavirus cases in Japan may not peak for another month,
so the markets will think that now it's Japan's turn. A state of
emergency is necessary, but this could be yen negative."
The pound GBP=D3 fell 0.44% to $1.2215 on Monday in Asia.
Against the euro, sterling EURGBP=D3 fell 0.35% to 88.49
pence.
Johnson was admitted in what Downing Street said was a
"precautionary step" because he was showing persistent symptoms
of COVID-19 10 days after testing positive for the novel
coronavirus. The coronavirus, which emerged in China late last year, has
turned into a global pandemic that has claimed more than 64,000
lives and paralysed large swathes of the global economy.
The yen JPY=EBS fell 0.22% to 108.63 against the dollar.
Japan's currency also weakened against the euro EURJPY=EBS and
the Australian dollar AUDJPY= .
Japan's prime minister will declare a state of emergency
over the coronavirus as early as Tuesday, the Yomiuri newspaper
reported, as the number of infections topped 1,000 in the
capital, Tokyo. Abe will likely announce his plans to declare the emergency
on Monday, the paper said.
Pressure has been mounting on the government to make the
move as the pace of infections - while slow compared with
harder-hit countries around the world - continues to accelerate.
The dollar was little changed at $1.0800 per euro EUR=EBS
and held steady at 0.9769 Swiss franc CHF=EBS .
U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday expressed hope that
the United States was seeing a "leveling-off" of the coronavirus
crisis in some of the nation's hot spots. However, sentiment for the greenback remains fragile after a
series of data last week showed U.S. job losses are soaring as
draconian measures to curb the virus hurt consumer spending and
factory activity.
Currencies of major oil producers fell in Asia on Monday as
oil prices gave up some of their recent gains after Saudi Arabia
and Russia postponed to Thursday a meeting about a potential
pact to cut production.
The rouble RUB=D3 lost more than 0.8% against the dollar,
while the Mexican peso fell 1.18%. The Canadian dollar CAD=
fell 0.25% against its U.S. counterpart.