UPDATE 1-Euro flat ahead of ECB meeting; dollar holds near two-week lows

* Graphic: World FX rates in 2020 https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E
* Central banks set theme for currencies
* Euro steady as traders eye ECB meeting
* Yuan rises to two-week high

(Adds graph, euro zone GDP and comment)
By Elizabeth Howcroft
LONDON, April 30 (Reuters) - The euro was broadly flat on
Thursday after preliminary euro zone economic growth data was
even more dire than expected, as investors looked ahead to the
European Central Bank (ECB) meeting, while the dollar held near
two-week lows.
A preliminary flash estimate of euro zone gross domestic
product showed that Europe's economy contracted by 3.8% in the
first three months of the year - the sharpest quarterly decline
since the time series started in 1995. "Almost all of the damage happened in the final two weeks of
the quarter, showing how remarkably deep a contraction can
become under mandated lockdowns," wrote Bert Colijn, senior
economist at ING.
"A recession like the one we're currently in is
unprecedented," he said.
The market focus now is on the ECB, which is printing cash
at a record rate as the coronavirus pandemic sees European
countries' debt surge. The ECB is under pressure to ramp up its response to the
virus. There are some expectations that euro zone policymakers
will expand debt purchases to include junk bonds and take other
steps to ease conditions in credit markets. Analysts are not ruling out a move later today but expect
the ECB to more likely to act in June.
"No doubt the ECB will underline that it would implement
further measures if required," wrote Commerzbank FX and EM
analyst Antje Praefcke in a note to clients.
"But at the same time it is likely to point out that fiscal
policy in the euro zone has to make its contributions too," she
wrote.
The euro was broadly flat, at $1.0883, having touched a
10-day high EUR=EBS .
The dollar fell overnight after the U.S. Federal Reserve
left the door open to more monetary easing and positive trial
results for a drug to treat COVID-19 also boosted risk appetite.
More countries are taking steps to re-open their economies
as coronavirus infections slow, giving some cause for optimism.
Against a basket of currencies =USD , the dollar touched a
two-week low. It came close to six-week lows versus the yen in
early London trading, before starting to recover, last at 106.64
JPY=EBS .
The riskier Australian and New Zealand dollars, which rose
overnight as risk sentiment improved and have risen every day
for the past week, reversed their gains and dipped on Thursday
morning AUD=D3 NZD=D3 .
The Swiss franc rose to a weekly high against the dollar,
and was last at 0.97115, up around 0.3% on the day CHF=EBS .
Elsewhere, bitcoin rose to the highest in more than two
months.
Bitcoin traders and analysts cite growing demand for bitcoin
before its latest "halving" - a 50% cut in the production of the
cryptocurrency due in May that is one of the few observable
events known to materially impact price.
A rule written into bitcoin's underlying code slashes the
number of new coins awarded to the miners behind the global
supply of bitcoin. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Major FX IMAGE https://tmsnrt.rs/2VSjLOl
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