FOREX-Dollar holds higher after Fed chief announcement

BY Reuters | ECONOMIC | 07:16 AM EST

(Updates after Warsh announcement, stripping out earlier material)

TOKYO/LONDON, Jan 30 (Reuters) - The dollar gave back some of its earlier gains on Friday but remained higher on the day after ?U.S. President Donald Trump said he had appointed former governor ?Kevin Warsh as chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve.

The ?euro was last down 0.2% ?at $1.1947, sterling ?was off 0.3% at $1.378, while the dollar climbed 0.5% against the Japanese ?yen to 153.8 yen.

That ?left the dollar index, which tracks the currency against six peers 0.2% higher ?at 96.47.

The dollar strengthened ?after ?reports earlier in the day that Trump intended to name Warsh, with the dollar index up around ?0.5%.

The dollar rising is "an understandable reaction as this would confirm who the next Fed Chair will not be - Kevin Hassett or Rick Rieder," said Derek Halpenny, MUFG's head of research, Global ?Markets ?EMEA, before Warsh's appointment had been confirmed.

"Both of these candidates have been in the ?running and were deemed favourites at different stages, and were perceived by the markets as being inexperienced and being too close to President Trump and hence would be more easily influenced."

This "is certainly not the case with ?Kevin Warsh," Halpenny said. (Reporting by Rocky Swift in Tokyo, Rae Wee in Singapore and Alun John in London; Editing by ?Sam Holmes and Clarence Fernandez, William Maclean, Aidan Lewis)

In general the bond market is volatile, and fixed income securities carry interest rate risk. (As interest rates rise, bond prices usually fall, and vice versa. This effect is usually more pronounced for longer-term securities.) Fixed income securities also carry inflation risk and credit and default risks for both issuers and counterparties. Unlike individual bonds, most bond funds do not have a maturity date, so avoiding losses caused by price volatility by holding them until maturity is not possible.

Lower-quality debt securities generally offer higher yields, but also involve greater risk of default or price changes due to potential changes in the credit quality of the issuer. Any fixed income security sold or redeemed prior to maturity may be subject to loss.

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