* Steadying of main stocks indices helps dollar gain
* Swedish crown gains on central bank minutes
* PBOC unveils new step to curb offshore yuan speculation
* Canadian dollar recovers after slide to near 13-year
trough
(Adds Swedish crown)
By Patrick Graham
LONDON, Jan 18 (Reuters) - A steadier overall performance by
European stock markets helped the dollar gain some ground on
Monday against Europe's current safe havens of choice, the euro
and the Swiss franc in a session thinned out by a U.S. holiday.
Sweden's crown EURSEK=D4 gained a third of a percent on a
set of Riksbank minutes that stopped short of signalling
aggressive intervention to weaken the currency from here.
Sterling, a big loser since the start of December, dipped
below $1.43 while China's yuan gained around half a percent on a Reuters report of new moves to add to funding
costs for foreign players speculating against the currency.
That sent the dollar/yuan rate back below 6.60 -- around 2.5
percent off highs for the greenback reached in the first week of
January -- and eased some of the concern over Chinese markets
that has dominated major currencies since the start of the year.
The Australian dollar also gained around half a
percent while other commodity currencies stabilised despite
another dip in the price of oil after Friday's 5 percent dive.
Predicted to fall at the start of 2016 on the increasing
difference between U.S. and euro zone interest rates, the euro
has instead see-sawed on the back of investors' appetite for
risk, or lack thereof. Few expect this week's European Central
Bank meeting to change that dynamic.
"With the ECB likely not close to additional easing, this
week's meeting looks unlikely to stand in the way of safe-haven
buying of the euro," said Josh O'Byrne, a currency strategist
with Citi in London.
"After the ECB's message on easing in December investors see
the bar a bit higher in the near term for the divergence trade.
There is more volatility in other things."
The dollar gained around a quarter of a percent against the
euro to $1.0893 EUR=EBS and 0.5 percent to 1.0050 francs
CHF=EBS .
It also inched higher to 117.33 yen. JPY=EBS
Market participants remained sceptical about the prospects
for a sustained improvement in risk appetite, however, given the
selloff in global equities seen so far in January.
Data from China, echoing official reserves numbers, showed
selling of yuan by Chinese banks more than doubled to the
equivalent of $95 billion in December from November.
"I think we will continue to see demand for yen in the short
term," said Jesper Bargmann, head of trading for Nordea Bank in
Singapore. "I think the market is nervous and we will see
further risk aversion."
Investors in Asia had taken aim at the Canadian dollar,
driving it to a near 13-year low of C$1.4650 CAD=D4 against
the U.S. dollar on expectations the Bank of Canada will cut
interest rates as early as this week.
But some in Europe were already arguing last week that the
extent of the falls in the Canadian dollar -- another 7 Canadian
cents weaker against the dollar so far in January -- might stay
policymakers' hand on further rate easing.
"That squeeze we've seen on the CAD today is clearly about
some pullback on expectations for this week's meeting," said a
dealer with one international bank in London.
The Canadian dollar had recovered to gain 0.2 percent on the
day against its U.S. counterpart in early European trade.