FOREX-Dollar slides vs most currencies euro nears 3-year high

    * Dollar drops against currency basket after modest recovery
    * Strong U.S. ADP jobs report lends brief support
    * Greenback gains against yen as risk assets rally
    * Bitcoin down 4 percent

 (Recasts, adds comment, U.S. ADP data, FX table, updates
prices, changes byline, dateline; previous LONDON)
    By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
    NEW YORK, Jan 4 (Reuters) - The dollar fell on Thursday,
failing to hold the previous session's gains on the back of
upbeat U.S. data and minutes from the Federal Reserve, as the
euro resumed a rally that has taken it close to its highest
levels in three years. 
    A stronger-than-expected U.S. private-sector jobs report
briefly helped the dollar pare losses versus the euro and extend
gains against the yen. But those moves were short lived.
    "The market quickly faded the mini-rally in the dollar as
the trend gave way to what we have been seeing for the past
several weeks, which is dollar weakness," said Sireen Harajli,
currency strategist at Mizuho Corporate Bank in New York.
    She added that while the ADP number was better than forecast
and will probably lead to high expectations for the U.S.
non-farm payrolls report on Friday, the market does not seem to
be willing to push the dollar higher.
   U.S. private employers added 250,000 jobs in December, data
from ADP Research Institute showed, the biggest monthly increase
since March. Economists surveyed by Reuters had forecast a gain
of 190,000 jobs, with estimates ranging from 165,000 to 225,000.

    The dollar index, which measures the currency against a
basket of six major rivals, had slipped to its lowest
since Sept. 20 on Tuesday, as optimism about the euro zone
economy drove the single currency above $1.20 for the first time
in 3-1/2 months. The index was last down 0.2 percent at 91.939.
    The dollar had bounced on Wednesday after strong
manufacturing and construction data. It drew further support
from the Fed's latest minutes, which indicated the U.S. central
bank is still poised to raise interest rates several times this
year. 
    "We have decent expectations for global growth and global
risk assets and, when you have above-potential global growth,
the dollar tends to weaken because people don't need to hold
safe-haven dollars," said BMO Capital Markets currency
strategist Stephen Gallo in London. 
    The dollar rose against the yen, however, trading up 0.2
percent at 112.77 yen on strong risk appetite across
markets. 
    After dipping in early trade in Asia, reaching as low as
$1.2005, the euro bounced back to trade as high as $1.2075
. The euro last changed hands at $1.2062, up 0.4 percent
    Bitcoin was down about 4 percent on the Bitstamp exchange at
around $14,529, having lost more than a quarter of
its value since hitting record highs in mid-December.
    
    ========================================================
    Currency bid prices at 9:39AM (1439 GMT)
 Description      RIC         Last           U.S. Close  Pct Change     YTD Pct     High Bid    Low Bid
                                              Previous                   Change                 
                                              Session                                           
 Euro/Dollar      EUR=        $1.2077        $1.2012     +0.54%         +0.68%      +1.2078     +1.2005
 Dollar/Yen       JPY=        112.7400       112.4900    +0.22%         +0.06%      +112.8400   +112.4900
 Euro/Yen         EURJPY=     136.18         135.15      +0.76%         +0.74%      +136.2000   +135.1400
 Dollar/Swiss     CHF=        0.9746         0.9769      -0.24%         +0.03%      +0.9780     +0.9745
 Sterling/Dollar  GBP=        1.3543         1.3514      +0.21%         +0.23%      +1.3560     +1.3506
 Dollar/Canadian  CAD=        1.2523         1.2531      -0.06%         -0.43%      +1.2555     +1.2511
 Australian/Doll  AUD=        0.7839         0.7835      +0.05%         +0.49%      +0.7856     +0.7815
 ar                                                                                             
 Euro/Swiss       EURCHF=     1.1770         1.1737      +0.28%         +0.69%      +1.1772     +1.1734
 Euro/Sterling    EURGBP=     0.8913         0.8890      +0.26%         +0.34%      +0.8918     +0.8880
 NZ               NZD=        0.7124         0.7090      +0.48%         +0.54%      +0.7128     +0.7075
 Dollar/Dollar                                                                                  
 Dollar/Norway    NOK=        8.0801         8.1023      -0.27%         -1.55%      +8.1154     +8.0813
 Euro/Norway      EURNOK=     9.7592         9.7363      +0.24%         -0.91%      +9.7749     +9.7312
 Dollar/Sweden    SEK=        8.1286         8.1764      -0.08%         -0.89%      +8.1842     +8.1266
 Euro/Sweden      EURSEK=     9.8166         9.8248      -0.08%         -0.23%      +9.8327     +9.8064
 
    
 (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Additional reporting by
Jemima Kelly in London; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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