Early trade in New York: Dollar rises against yen, Swiss franc

The dollar on Monday was broadly higher against safe-haven currencies such as the yen and Swiss franc, bolstered by higher risk appetite due to US-China trade hopes and Friday's generally upbeat US non-farm payrolls report for October.

"Market trends are being influenced by a better risk mood overall," said Shaun Osborne, chief FX strategist at Scotiabank in Toronto.

He said trade hopes rose on US Commerce Secretary's Wilbur Ross' optimism that a preliminary deal would be signed this month.

Licenses for US companies to sell components to China's Huawei Technologies Co "will be forthcoming very shortly," Ross said in an interview with Bloomberg published on Sunday. He noted the US government had received 206 requests for licenses.

The euro slipped as investors awaited Christine Lagarde's first speech as European Central Bank president. But the single currency remained near its highest levels in weeks after Ross said in the interview that Washington may not slap tariffs on imported vehicles after "good conversations" with automakers in the European Union, Japan and Korea.

In other currencies, the dollar rose 0.2% to 108.44 yen. Against the Swiss franc, another safe haven, the dollar was up 0.2% at 0.9873 franc.

The Chinese yuan rose to a 12-week high of 7.0225 against the greenback in the offshore market as risk sentiment continued to improve.

An index that tracks the dollar against six major currencies was last up 0.1% at 97.323, breaching the 200-day moving average of 97.303.

Sterling was flat to slightly down at $1.2925, after last month's rally from $1.2200, as investors wagered there was less risk of a hard Brexit now that an election campaign was underway.