FOREX-COVID-19 proof risk sentiment drags dollar near 2018 lows

    * Dollar softens against most majors; virus worries lift yen
    * China's yuan soars
    * Focus turns to Georgia Senate race
    * Europe waits for new batch of PMIs

    By Julien Ponthus
    LONDON, Jan 4 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar held near mid-2018
lows on Monday as bullish sentiment across global markets
prompted investors to buy riskier currencies such as the Chinese
yuan, despite a resurgent pandemic.     
    Low U.S. interest rates, massive U.S. budget and trade
deficits and a belief that rebounding world trade will drive
non-dollar currencies higher have set the dollar on a downward
course. 
   "The U.S. dollar slipped further through the threshold of the
new year as global risk sentiment stayed buoyant", said Alvin
Tan, an FX strategist at RBC Capital Markets.
    The dollar index posted its first annual los9s since
2017 last year. It has fallen roughly 13% from a three-year peak
at the height of the pandemic panic in March.
    It was last 0.14% weaker at 89.640 and not far above last
week's more than two-and-a-half-year low of 89.515.   
    Manufacturing activity expanded in Japan, South Korea and
Taiwan, according to PMI surveys, the latest indication that
manufacturers in the region continue to recover from the damage
caused by the COVID-19 pandemic last year.
    The Chinese yuan rose over 0.9% to a 30-month high of
6.4693 per dollar.
    Chinese factory activity continued to accelerate in
December, though the PMI missed forecasts at 53.0.
    The safe-haven yen rose 0.4% to 102.90 per dollar,
and looked to test resistance at 102.55, after Japanese Prime
Minister Yoshihide Suga said his government was mulling a state
of emergency in Tokyo as coronavirus cases rise. 
    The softening dollar boosted commodity prices and pushed
bitcoin as well as several Asian currencies to milestone highs.
    The Australian and New Zealand dollars each gained close to 
0.4% to hold just below multi-year peaks.    
    The euro, which had dipped on New Year's Eve
profit-taking, rose 0.4% to $1.2270 while traders waited for a
fresh batch of economic indicators throughout the region.
    Sterling, still boosted by Britain's trade deal with
the European Union, gained to $1.3678, levels last seen in early
2018. 
   Investors are now focused on a runoff election in the U.S.
state of Georgia on Tuesday that will determine control of the
Senate.
    Jeffrey Halley, a market analyst at Oanda warned his clients
against sharp moves in the dollar after that election. 
    "A Democrat win is likely to see a sharp correction higher
by the US Dollar, exacerbated by the world being universally
short the greenback", he said. "Investors should probably wait
for the election dust to settle before committing heavily to new
dollar short positions. 
    Minutes of the Federal Reserve's December meeting due on
Wednesday should offer more detail on discussions about making
the Fed's forward policy guidance more explicit and the chance
of a further increase in asset buying this year.
    The data calendar includes manufacturing surveys across the
globe, which will show how industry is coping with the spread of
the coronavirus, and the closely watched ISM surveys of U.S.
factories and services.
    Bitcoin on Monday was off Sunday's record high of
$34,800 at $32,340. An enormous rally has carried it up 800%
since March as institutional investors seem to have turned
buyers. 
    
    
    
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    Currency bid prices at 8:15AM in London (0815 GMT)
 Description      RIC         Last           U.S. Close  Pct Change     YTD Pct     High Bid    Low Bid
                                              Previous                   Change                 
                                              Session                                           
 Euro/Dollar                  $1.2267        $1.2218     +0.41%         +0.41%      +1.2271     +1.2211
 Dollar/Yen                   102.9000       103.2900    -0.39%         -0.39%      +103.3100   +102.8600
 Euro/Yen                     126.22         126.15      +0.06%         -0.55%      +126.5200   +126.1100
 Dollar/Swiss                 0.8822         0.8847      -0.27%         -0.27%      +0.8845     +0.8818
 Sterling/Dollar              1.3676         1.3662      +0.12%         +0.12%      +1.3702     +1.3645
 Dollar/Canadian              1.2696         1.2734      -0.40%         -0.27%      +1.2735     +1.2686
 Aussie/Dollar                0.7720         0.7693      +0.37%         +0.37%      +0.7734     +0.7682
 NZ                           0.7207         0.7181      +0.38%         +0.38%      +0.7217     +0.7183
 Dollar/Dollar All spots
Tokyo spots
Europe spots 
Volatilities 
Tokyo Forex market info from BOJ 

    
 (Reporting by Tom Westbrook; editing by Lincoln Feast, Larry
King)