* Dollar gives up early gains, euro marginally higher
* FX markets in wait-and-see mode before U.S. election
* Sterling gains as Brexit trade deal talks continue
* Graphic: World FX rates in 2020 https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E (Adds new comments, FX table, updates prices, changes byline, dateline; previous LONDON)
By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
NEW YORK, Oct 27 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar slipped on Tuesday as investors took some profits after the previous session's gains that also saw a sell-off in equities, while worries about a second coronavirus wave and uncertainty ahead of the U.S. election persisted.
The greenback fell against the currencies that benefit mostly from higher risk appetite such as the euro, sterling, and commodity-linked currencies rose.
Monday saw the steepest stock market sell-off in a month and a bond rally, but foreign exchange market activity has remained relatively muted, with price moves on Tuesday limited.
"The uncertainty in the economic outlook has not changed one bit," said Edward Moya, senior market analyst, at OANDA in New York, but noted that some positive stories on the U.S. earnings front.
"Markets are becoming more convinced a blue wave is happening," Moya said, referring to a victory of the Democratic Party in the Senate, House of Representatives, and the White House in next Tuesday's election.
"The prospects of a Biden administration is probably more positive for the fight against COVID," he added.
Polls give Democrat Joe Biden a solid lead but the contest is much tighter in battleground states that could decide the outcome. said, analysts warned investors were clearly cautious after the United States, Russia and France all hit new daily records for COVID-19 infections. They said prices were not moving much because of a reluctance to build positions before the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 3.
After initially falling, the euro was up 0.2% at $1.1826 EUR=EBS in late morning trading.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of major currencies, weakened 0.2% to 92.92 =USD .
The greenback fell 0.3% versus the yen to 104.53 yen JPY=EBS , and was little changed against 0.9074 CHF=EBS .
"Many sources of uncertainty are still preventing clearer trends from emerging," UniCredit analysts said in a research note.
"The impasse on both U.S. budget talks and Brexit negotiations, as well as the implications of rising COVID-19 infections on 4Q20 GDP growth, play in favor of more euro-dollar and sterling-dollar stabilization for now," they said, pointing to levels of "just above $1.18 and $1.30, respectively."
The usually risk-sensitive Australian AUD=D3 and New Zealand dollars NZD=D3 gained.
The yuan weakened after Reuters reported that China's central bank had neutralised the counter-cyclical factor in its daily yuan midpoint fixing in a move to let the fixing more closely reflect actual market moves. move is typically positive for the dollar, said Stephen Innes, chief market strategist, at online brokerage Axi.
"Such a move means dollar/yuan should generally fix higher. The removal of the element would imply greater FX flexibility," he added.
The dollar was last flat 0.1% at 6.7039 yuan < CNH=EBS .
The European Central Bank, meanwhile, convenes on Thursday for its monetary policy meeting, but analysts say market reaction will be limited.
========================================================
Currency bid prices at 10:45AM (1445 GMT) Description
RIC
Last
U.S. Close Pct Change
YTD Pct
High Bid
Low Bid
Previous
Change
Session
Euro/Dollar
EUR=EBS
$1.1822
$1.1810
+0.11%
+5.46%
+1.1839
+1.1797 Dollar/Yen
JPY=D3
104.5150
104.8500
-0.21%
-3.67%
+104.8800 +104.5900 Euro/Yen
EURJPY=
123.55
123.80
-0.20%
+1.31%
+123.9900 +123.5100 Dollar/Swiss
CHF=EBS
0.9077
0.9078
-0.02%
-6.21%
+0.9097
+0.9062 Sterling/Dollar GBP=D3
1.3033
1.3022
+0.10%
-1.72%
+1.3058
+1.3001 Dollar/Canadian CAD=D3
1.3174
1.3213
-0.25%
+1.45%
+1.3211
+1.3157 Aussie/Dollar
AUD=D3
0.7130
0.7123
+0.11%
+1.63%
+0.7142
+0.7116 Euro/Swiss
EURCHF=
1.0731
1.0718
+0.12%
-1.12%
+1.0748
+1.0718 Euro/Sterling
EURGBP=
0.9068
0.9066
+0.02%
+7.26%
+0.9085
+0.9061 NZ
NZD=D3
0.6715
0.6678
+0.57%
-0.19%
+0.6716
+0.6675 Dollar/Dollar
Dollar/Norway
NOK=D3
9.1720
9.2450
-0.81%
+4.54%
+9.2455
+9.1530 Euro/Norway
EURNOK=
10.8455
10.9140
-0.63%
+10.24%
+10.9290
+10.8240 Dollar/Sweden
8.7235
8.7418
-0.12%
-6.67%
+8.7632
+8.7072 Euro/Sweden
EURSEK=
10.3140
10.3260
-0.12%
-1.48%
+10.3422
+10.3058
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Euro vs U.S. dollar
https://tmsnrt.rs/3dZafQK
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>