FOREX-Dollar weakens as US tax bill seen having limited impact

    * Dollar soft, with U.S. tax bill expected to be signed into
law
    * Yen falls vs dollar ahead of BoJ meeting
    * Sweden's cenbank to end quantitative easing

 (New throughout, updates prices, market activity and comments,
adds table; new byline, changes dateline, previous LONDON)
    By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
    NEW YORK, Dec 20 (Reuters) - The dollar slid against most
currencies except the yen on Wednesday, with the greenback seen
as having limited upside potential given that investors have
already factored in a comprehensive U.S. tax bill that is all
but certain to be signed into law by President Donald Trump.
    "The price action in the currency market both yesterday and
today, with the greenback generally on the defensive...suggest
the positive implications of the tax proposal have been broadly
anticipated," said Nick Bennenbroek, head of currency strategy
at Wells Fargo Securities in New York.
    "In essence, and as we have often seen around U.S. Federal
Reserve rate hikes, we appear to be seeing a repeat of U.S.
dollar 'buying on the rumor and selling on the fact'," he added.
    The U.S. Senate approved the tax bill early Wednesday
morning, but had to send it back to the House of
Representatives, which had passed it on Tuesday, for another
vote due to a procedural foul-up. The outcome is not expected to
change.
    The bill essentially slashes taxes for corporations and the
wealthy, while offering mixed, temporary tax relief to working 
individuals and families.
    Some analysts were skeptical about the tax bill's supposed
positive impact on the U.S. economy.
    While increased fiscal stimulus should support the dollar as
it would allow the Fed to raise interest rates at a faster pace,
it also could expand fiscal deficits with little incentive for
businesses to hire more workers, said Omer Esiner, chief market
analyst at Commonwealth FX in Washington.
    "It remains unclear how much fuel this bill will provide to
the economy at this point in the business cycle," he added. 
    In mid-morning trading, the dollar index fell 0.2 percent to
93.295. That led the euro to rise 0.3 percent versus the
dollar to $1.1872
    Year-end portfolio moves and a rise in German bond yields
also helped the euro, analysts said.
    The dollar also fell against sterling, the Canadian
 and New Zealand dollars.
    Against the yen, however, the dollar rose to one-week highs
and was last 113.16 yen, up 0.2 percent.
    Gains in the dollar were limited versus the yen, as many
market players looked to Thursday's outcome of the Bank of
Japan's two-day policy meeting for clues to whether it will join
the U.S. Federal Reserve and European central banks in winding
back stimulus.
    The Swedish crown, meanwhile, rose on Wednesday against both
the euro and the dollar after the country's
central bank called an end to its quantitative easing policy.
 
   
========================================================
    Currency bid prices at 10:32AM (1532 GMT)
 Description      RIC         Last           U.S. Close  Pct Change     YTD Pct     High Bid    Low Bid
                                              Previous                   Change                 
                                              Session                                           
 Euro/Dollar      EUR=        $1.1884        $1.1838     +0.39%         +13.04%     +1.1884     +1.1829
 Dollar/Yen       JPY=        113.1900       112.8800    +0.27%         -3.15%      +113.2900   +112.8500
 Euro/Yen         EURJPY=     134.52         133.64      +0.66%         +9.24%      +134.5200   +133.6300
 Dollar/Swiss     CHF=        0.9842         0.9846      -0.04%         -3.30%      +0.9885     +0.9842
 Sterling/Dollar  GBP=        1.3405         1.3383      +0.16%         +8.67%      +1.3418     +1.3378
 Dollar/Canadian  CAD=        1.2852         1.2876      -0.19%         -4.30%      +1.2880     +1.2818
 Australian/Doll  AUD=        0.7660         0.7664      -0.05%         +6.17%      +0.7679     +0.7652
 ar                                                                                             
 Euro/Swiss       EURCHF=     1.1697         1.1659      +0.33%         +9.14%      +1.1710     +1.1657
 Euro/Sterling    EURGBP=     0.8863         0.8843      +0.23%         +4.05%      +0.8865     +0.8829
 NZ               NZD=        0.6972         0.6972      +0.00%         +0.45%      +0.6985     +0.6955
 Dollar/Dollar                                                                                  
 Dollar/Norway    NOK=        8.3891         8.3442      +0.54%         -2.87%      +8.3952     +8.3190
 Euro/Norway      EURNOK=     9.9694         9.8814      +0.89%         +9.73%      +9.9719     +9.8554
 Dollar/Sweden    SEK=        8.3943         8.4022      +0.24%         -7.83%      +8.4103     +8.3193
 Euro/Sweden      EURSEK=     9.9737         9.9494      +0.24%         +4.11%      +9.9760     +9.8621
 
    
 (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Additional reporting by
Tommy Wilkes in London; Editing by David Gregorio)
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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