FOREX-Yuan, Australian dollar struggle to wipe off coronavirus concerns

* Yuan, Aussie under pressure as investors assess health
threat
* 2002-3 SARS epidemic didn't have lasting market impact
-analyst
* Global impact could be bigger given China's growth since
then
* Graphic: World FX rates in 2020 https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E

By Hideyuki Sano
TOKYO, Jan 22 (Reuters) - The yuan dipped and the Australian
dollar hit a six-week low on Wednesday as investors feared the
outbreak of a new coronavirus in China could create more
headaches for the Chinese economy, which is already slowing
because of the U.S.-China trade war.
The virus, which causes a type of pneumonia, has spread to
cities including Beijing and Shanghai as the number of patients
in China more than tripled. More cases were also reported
outside China, including the United States. The yuan was steady after dipping earlier. It fell about
0.55% on Tuesday, its biggest decline in almost five months, in
the onshore trade. It last stood at 6.9063 per dollar
CNY=CFXS , almost flat on the day.
The Australian dollar, often used as a proxy bet on the
Chinese economy, fell to as low as $0.6827, a trough last seen
in mid-December, and last stood at $0.6837, down 0.13%.
The concerns surrounding the little-known virus propped up
the safe-haven yen, which was firm at 109.98 yen JPY= , up from
Tuesday's low of 110.23.
The newly-found virus evoked memories of the 2002/03
outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in southern
China, which killed nearly 800 people globally and led to a
sharp downturn in tourism in Asia.
Some say the impact could be felt more severely this time
given the Chinese economy is now several times larger than it
was in 2002-03.
On the other hand, with limited information available on the
extent of the pandemic, market participants had little to chew
on for now.
"This is certainly something companies need to think about
for their contingency planning. But for financial markets, there
isn't much to make a thorough case for trading in either
direction given lack of further information," said Ayako Sera,
market economist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank.
Tohru Sasaki, head of Japan market research at JPMorgan,
said that while the SARS outbreak caused a massive economic
downturn in Hong Kong and Singapore for about eight weeks
through a drop in tourism, the pandemic had limited impact on
supply chains in Asia.
"If the latest virus reaches a similar magnitude, some
economies such as Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia could be
negatively affected by a drop in tourism. But its long-term
impact on the global economy and the currency market will be
limited," he said.
The euro stood little changed at $1.1083 EUR= .
Sterling traded at $1.3040 GBP=D4 , having gained a tad on
Tuesday after data showed the British economy created jobs at
its strongest rate in nearly a year in the three months to
November. The strong data slightly dented expectations of an interest
rate cut by the Bank of England at the end of this month, though
markets are still pricing in about a 60% chance of a 0.25
percentage point cut.

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