Signs of progress in the Sino-U.S. trade dispute undermined the dollar for much of December, leaving its index (DXY) down 1.9% on the month. It was flat on Thursday at 96.440 having touched a six-month trough ahead of the holidays. The dollar looked like slipping further on the Chinese yuan after shedding 1% last month to stand at 6.9640 .  China's central bank on Wednesday cut the amount of cash that banks must hold as reserves, releasing around 800 billion yuan ($114.91 billion) to shore up the economy. The dollar had benefited from U.S. economic outperformance for much of 2019, but an easing in Sino-U.S. trade concerns has boosted optimism that this year could favor other major nations. The Federal Reserve has already averted a squeeze in lending markets as banks took only a small portion of its d $150 billion in year-end funding, leaving repo rates at the lowest since March 2018.