FOREX-Yen rises, yuan falls after Trump signs Hong Kong protest bill

* Graphic: World FX rates in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
* Worries about U.S.-China relations boost safe havens
* Hong Kong human rights bill could hamper trade war
* U.S. economic data to limit dollar's downside

By Stanley White
TOKYO, Nov 28 (Reuters) - The safe-haven yen rose against
the dollar after U.S. President Donald Trump signed into law
legislation supporting anti-government protesters in Hong Kong,
which could complicate efforts to end the U.S.-China trade war.
The yuan fell in offshore trade as scrutiny of Hong Kong's
response to months of often violent protest against Chinese rule
of the former British colony potentially opens up a new fault
line in already fractious relations between Washington and
Beijing.
The Swiss franc and gold also rose on Thursday as investors
sought safe-haven assets due to concern about a potential
increase in geopolitical risk.
The focus now shifts to China's reaction as investors try to
gauge how much impact U.S. support of anti-government protests
in Hong Kong will have on negotiations to scale back a 16-month
long trade war between the world's two-largest economies.
"The yen is being bought because of the news about Trump
signing the Hong Kong bill," said Yukio Ishizuki, foreign
exchange strategist at Daiwa Securities in Tokyo.
"Algorithmic trading could push the yen up further, but the
dollar's losses will be limited because we've had positive U.S.
economic data, which has lifted sentiment."
The yen JPY=EBS rose around 0.2% to 109.35 versus the
dollar on Thursday in Asia, rebounding from a six-month low
reached Wednesday after U.S. economic growth was revised up in
the third quarter. In the offshore market, the yuan CNH=D3 fell 0.19% to
7.0290 per dollar.
Trump on Wednesday signed a bill that requires the State
Department to certify, at least annually, that Hong Kong retains
enough autonomy to justify favourable U.S. trading terms which
have helped it maintain its position as a global financial hub.
The law also threatens sanctions for human rights violations
in Hong Kong, which has been rocked by months of civil unrest in
response to what protesters say is an erosion of freedoms since
reverting to Chinese rule in 1997. Beijing has denied any undue influence and has blamed
foreign governments for meddling it Hong Kong's affairs.
Many see the U.S. legislation as symbolic, but it has the
potential, if implemented, to upend relations between the United
States and Hong Kong and change the territory's status to that
of any other Chinese city.
The U.S. rebuke comes at a sensitive time because U.S. and
Chinese negotiators are trying to reach an agreement to
de-escalate a trade war, which would remove a huge headwind from
the global economic outlook.
Washington and Beijing have imposed tariffs on each other's
goods in a prolonged dispute over Chinese trade practices that
the U.S. government says is unfair.
Investor uncertainty benefited the Swiss franc CHF=EBS ,
which pulled back from a two-month low to trade at 0.99875
against the greenback.
Gold XAU= , another safe haven bought in times of
uncertainty, rose 0.13% to $1,456.15 per ounce.
The rise in safe havens undermined the dollar, which came
into Asian trade on a high after revised data showed U.S.
economic growth picked up slightly in the third quarter.
Separate data showed new orders for key U.S.-made capital
goods increased by the most in nine months in October and
shipments rebounded.