FOREX-Yen, Swiss franc hold gains as trade war worries deepen

* Graphic: World FX rates in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
* Trump's comments on trade roil markets
* Prolonged trade war hurts global growth
* Safe-havens gain, dollar weakens broadly

By Stanley White
TOKYO, Dec 4 (Reuters) - The yen and Swiss franc held gains
against the dollar on Wednesday as appetite for safe-havens
spiked after U.S. President Donald Trump warned a trade deal
with China might not come until after the 2020 U.S. presidential
election.
In offshore trade, China's yuan traded near its weakest
versus the dollar since October due to waning hopes for a truce
in trade war between the world's two-largest economies.
The dollar was broadly sold against major currencies, which
helped sterling climb to its highest level in more that six
months against the greenback.
Trump's statement that he had "no deadline" for an agreement
with China weakened sentiment and roiled financial markets,
because trade friction could drag on global growth longer than
many investors had anticipated.
The diminishing prospects for an agreement also reinforced
expectations the United States could carry out its plan to raise
tariffs even further on Chinese goods on Dec. 15.
"Expectations for a U.S.-China trade deal are fading, and
dollar/yen has broken its support levels, so the bias is tilted
to the downside," said Takuya Kanda, general manager of research
at Gaitame.com Research Institute in Tokyo.
"More tariffs would push dollar/yen lower still."
The yen JPY=EBS stood at 108.54 versus the dollar on
Wednesday, close to its strongest since Nov. 22.
The Swiss franc CHF=EBS was quoted at 0.9875 versus the
dollar, near its highest level since Nov. 4.
Both the Japanese and Swiss currencies tend to be bought as
safe-havens during times of uncertainty.
The offshore yuan CNH=D3 stood at 7.0691 per dollar, close
to its weakest level since Oct. 18.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on Tuesday said that
while staff-level talks are continuing with Chinese officials,
no high-level meetings are scheduled. If there is no deal or substantial progress in talks before
Dec. 15, tariffs on remaining Chinese imports, including cell
phones, laptop computers and toys, will take effect, Ross told
CNBC on Tuesday.
The dollar index .DXY against a basket of six major
currencies was quoted at 97.737, having skidded to a one-month
low.
Sterling GBP=D3 , meanwhile, benefited from the dollar's
slide and rose to $1.3014, the highest since mid-May this year.
Trump's comments on trade so far this week have already
caused a major stir.
On Monday, he said he would hit Brazil and Argentina with
trade tariffs for "massive devaluation of their currencies".
The United States then threatened duties of up to 100% on
French goods, from champagne to handbags, because of a digital
services tax that Washington says harms U.S. tech companies.