* Graphic: World FX rates in 2020 https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E
By Saikat Chatterjee
LONDON, Nov 24 (Reuters) - The Australian dollar rose to a
two-and-a-half-month high and the euro gained on Tuesday as U.S.
President Donald Trump accepted the transition to a Joseph Biden
presidency, which may include former Federal Reserve Chair Janet
Yellen as Treasury secretary.
Appetite for riskier assets was evident across the board.
Stocks and oil rose as progress made on COVID-19 vaccines, which
had underpinned Wall Street overnight, boosted optimism about a
quicker revival for the global economy.
Trump acknowledged the head of the General Services
Administration should go ahead with a transition to a government
led by President-elect Biden, despite plans to continue with
legal challenges.
Democratic allies to the Biden campaign said Yellen is
expected to be nominated to become Treasury Secretary. She has
called for increased government spending to lift the economy out
of a coronavirus-induced recession.
"That should be a positive appointment from the market’s
point of view, as she is expected to pursue conventional
policies," Commerzbank strategists said in a daily note.
"And as far as the fiscal package is concerned, she is
likely to listen to the Fed's demands and try and push a package
as much as possible."
Yellen has called for more fiscal spending to revive an
economy wrecked by the coronavirus pandemic. She would be the
first person to head the Treasury, the Fed and the White House
Council of Economic Advisers.
In contrast, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin last
week let some of the Fed's lending programmes expire at the end
of this year, opening a feud with the central bank, which said
those emergency facilities are important to support the economy.
Against a basket of other major currencies, the
dollar weakened 0.4% to 92.13, just above Monday's 92.013, the
lowest in nearly three months.
The Australian dollar climbed 0.9% to $0.7367. The
euro gained 0.4% at $1.1894.
The euro's gains will be a concern for policymakers at
December's meeting of the European Central Bank. German Ifo data
and PMI surveys showed the European economy is struggling amid
lockdowns to slow a second wave of coronavirus
infections.
The dollar also struggled after AstraZeneca said its
COVID-19 vaccine could be about 90% effective and it would
prepare to submit data to authorities around the world,
increasing demand for risky assets.
The New Zealand dollar rose as much as 1% to a
two-year high of $0.6985, after the country's government sought
advice from the central bank on how it could help stabilise
property prices, prompting investors to unwind some bets of more
easing.
Elsewhere, cryptocurrency Bitcoin scaled a near
three-year peak of $19,000.
(Reporting by Saikat Chatterjee; Additional reporting by
Hideyuki Sano in Tokyo; editing by Kirsten Donovan, Larry King)
Astrazeneca (AZN)
