FOREX-Dollar down on trade war reprieve; pound soars on win by UK PM Johnson

* Risk-on mood on reports of U.S.-China deal terms
* UK election result boosts sterling

(Adds details on trade deal; updates rates)
By Saqib Iqbal Ahmed
NEW YORK, Dec 13 (Reuters) - The dollar slipped against a
basket of currencies on Friday as the announcement of an initial
China-U.S. trade deal and an election victory for Britain's
Brexit-backing Conservative Party appeared to clear the fog on
the global investment horizon, sapping safe-haven demand for the
greenback.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese officials said
Friday that they have agreed to a "phase one" trade deal that
included cutting American tariffs on Chinese goods. The two countries have reached an agreement where Washington
would suspend tariffs on Chinese imports scheduled for Sunday,
while Beijing would step up purchases of U.S. agricultural
products.
But they offered no specific details on the amount of U.S.
agricultural goods Beijing had agreed to buy, a key sticking
point of the lengthy deal negotiations. The deal could dial down tensions between the United States
and China, providing some relief to investors who have been
buffeted for months by worries that a full-blown trade war would
pressure global economic growth.
"The market was flooded with many headlines this morning and
some were contradictory, but overall we believed this weekend's
tariffs would probably be delayed or canceled, so the end result
is not too surprising," said John Doyle, vice president for
dealing and trading at Tempus Inc in Washington.
Lack of details on Beijing's purchase of U.S. agricultural
left investors hesitant to jump wholeheartedly into riskier
currencies, Doyle said.
"That is a huge detail that is missing," he said.
The dollar index .DXY , which measures the greenback
against six major currencies, was down 0.23% at 97.176, after
slipping as low as 96.719.
Appetite for trade-sensitive risky currencies, such as the
Australian dollar, remained low. The Aussie was 0.61% lower
against the dollar.
"Some have been burned in the past for believing there was
true progress, only to be disappointed," Tempus' Doyle said.
Against the Japanese yen - which tends to draw investors
during times of geopolitical or financial stress as Japan is the
world's biggest creditor nation - the dollar was about flat on
the day.
Although the offshore yuan was initially boosted by trade
deal hopes, it was last down about 1% versus the dollar. CNH=
Sterling was well supported on Friday as investors rushed to
unwind bets on a weaker pound after a resounding election
victory for Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservative Party.
Johnson's win will allow him to end three years of political
paralysis and take Britain out of the European Union in an
orderly manner in a matter of weeks.
The pound was up 1.38% at $1.38. GBP=

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Graphic: World FX rates in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
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