FOREX-Dollar rallies on stronger risk appetite, bitcoin tops $15,000

* Dollar/yen sheds losses as equities rebound

* Underlying optimism on US tax reform supports dollar

* Bitcoin hits record high of $14,870

(Updates prices, adds comment, changes byline, dateline from

LONDON)

By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss

NEW YORK, Dec (Shanghai: 600875.SS - news) 7 (Reuters) - The dollar rose to a two-week

high against a basket of currencies on Thursday, recovering

losses against the yen, on stronger risk appetite across markets

and on optimism the United States will successfully push through

a tax reform program.

The greenback slipped against the safe-haven yen on

Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would

recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, a move that

imperiled Middle East peace efforts and provoked widespread

condemnation.

But as global stock prices edged higher on Thursday after

three days of losses, investors bought back the dollar, which

gained 0.4 percent on the day at 112.72 yen.

Markets are now focused on Friday's U.S. non-farm payrolls

report, with investors looking at 200,000 new jobs for November,

according to a Reuters poll.

"Tomorrow's jobs report will play a significant factor in

keeping the (dollar) rally alive and heightening hopes for an

early 2018 rate hike," said Lennon Sweeting, chief market

strategist at XE in Toronto.

Against a basket of currencies, the dollar hit a two-week

high of 93.745. It was last up 0.1 percent at 93.696.

U.S. Senate Republicans agreed to talks with the House of

Representatives on sweeping tax legislation on Wednesday, amid

early signs lawmakers could bridge their differences and agree

on a final bill ahead of a self-imposed Dec. 22 deadline.

"Passage of U.S. tax reform is the main upside risk to

economic growth, with far-reaching effects," wrote BofA Merrill

Lynch analysts in a 2018 outlook.

But although most investors see the tax reform as a

pro-growth policy that should support the dollar, not all

analysts agree it would be straightforwardly dollar-positive.

"The corporate tax reform has the potential to have a

significantly positive effect on the greenback, but due to other

parts of the reform - those that are aimed at preventing tax

base erosion," wrote Commerzbank (Xetra: CBK100 - news) currency strategists in a note

to clients.

The move higher in dollar/yen came, meanwhile, amid a surge

in Tokyo shares, which had slumped the previous day on Middle

East concerns.

But considering the Nikkei's gains - the index was

up almost 1.5 percent - the dollar's rise versus the yen

appeared limited.

The euro slipped to a two-week low of $1.1776 against

a stronger dollar. It was last slightly down on the day at

$1.1787.

Bitcoin soared to a record high of $15,000 on the Bitstamp

exchange, continuing a surge from less than $1,000 at the

beginning of the year.

========================================================

Currency bid prices at 10:36AM (1536 GMT)

Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid

Previous Change

Session

Euro/Dollar EUR= $1.1790 $1.1795 -0.04% +12.15% +1.1809 +1.1776

Dollar/Yen JPY= 112.6600 112.2800 +0.34% -3.60% +112.7900 +112.2300

Euro/Yen EURJPY= 132.83 132.44 +0.29% +7.87% +132.9500 +132.4100

Dollar/Swiss CHF= 0.9919 0.9897 +0.22% -2.54% +0.9941 +0.9884

Sterling/Dollar GBP= 1.3406 1.3392 +0.10% +8.67% +1.3427 +1.3321

Dollar/Canadian CAD= 1.2855 1.2788 +0.52% -4.28% +1.2867 +1.2785

Australian/Doll AUD= 0.7520 0.7563 -0.57% +4.23% +0.7569 +0.7515

ar

Euro/Swiss EURCHF= 1.1696 1.1675 +0.18% +9.14% +1.1707 +1.1669

Euro/Sterling EURGBP= 0.8792 0.8805 -0.15% +3.22% +0.8849 +0.8782

NZ Dollar/Dolar NZD= 0.6838 0.6881 -0.62% -1.48% +0.6888 +0.6830

Dollar/Norway NOK= 8.2819 8.2694 +0.15% -4.11% +8.3072 +8.2650

Euro/Norway EURNOK= 9.7651 9.7545 +0.11% +7.48% +9.7958 +9.7441

Dollar/Sweden SEK= 8.4583 8.4327 +0.25% -7.13% +8.4689 +8.4222

Euro/Sweden EURSEK= 9.9732 9.9479 +0.25% +4.11% +9.9895 +9.9367

All spots FX=

Tokyo spots AFX=

Europe spots EFX=

Volatilities FXVOL=

Tokyo Forex market info from BOJ TKYFX World central bank news

CEN

Economic Forecasts... ECON Official rates...INT/RATE

Forex Diary.......MI/DIARY Top events........M/DIARY

Diaries...........DIARY Diaries Index........IND/DIARY

Press Digests.....PRESS Polls on G7 economies..SURVEY/

European markets......MARKETS/))

(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Additional reporting by

Jemima Kelly in London; Editing by Susan Thomas)