(Updates to U.S. markets open, changes dateline (previously LONDON), changes byline)
- Graphic: World FX rates https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E
The dollar lost ground on Thursday, hovering just above a multi-month low following Wednesday's bounce prompted by the release of U.S. Federal Reserve meeting minutes.
In those minutes, from the Fed's most recent monetary policy meeting, several policymakers said a discussion about reducing the pace of asset purchases would be appropriate "at some point" if the U.S. economic recovery continues to gain momentum.
That gave a boost to the greenback, which had been on the decline in recent weeks on repeated Fed reassurances that it is too soon to tighten its accommodative policy and that current price spikes will not morph into longer-term inflation.
But weakening Treasury yields helped pull the dollar back down.
"The only reason we saw yesterday's pop is the Fed is open to the possibility of starting the tapering debate sooner than expected," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York. "(But) the dollar remains on a downward trend in the immediate future."
The dollar index =USD was last down 0.37% at 89.884. That weakness helped boost the Australian dollar AUD=D3 which also got a lift from strong April employment data. It was up 0.61% at $0.7773.
The euro EUR=EBS gained 0.3% to $1.2211 and the dollar fell 0.42% to 108.765 Japanese yen JPY=D3 .
The cryptocurrency roller coaster was on an upswing in the wake of a steep sell-off following China's regulatory move against the digital assets.
That sell-off has since reversed course with the help of bargain hunters.
Bitcoin BTC=BTSP was most recently up 13.4% at $41,812 after plummeting to 54% below its record high hit just over a month ago after some of its prominent backers reiterated their support for the digital currency.
Smaller rival Ether ETH=BTSP gained 19.5% to $2,911. On Wednesday, it fell 22.8%, its biggest daily fall since March 2020.
"What we saw yesterday confirms that (cryptos are) a speculative market," Cardillo added.
======================================================== Currency bid prices at 10:12AM (1412 GMT)Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid Previous Change Session Dollar index =USD 89.8840 90.2200 -0.37% -0.108% +90.2300 +89.8550 Euro/Dollar EUR=EBS $1.2211 $1.2175 +0.30% +0.00% +$1.2218 +$1.2169 Dollar/Yen JPY=D3 108.7650 109.2150 -0.42% +0.00% +109.3000 +108.7600 Euro/Yen EURJPY= 132.83 132.95 -0.09% +0.00% +133.0800 +132.7200 Dollar/Swiss CHF=EBS 0.8993 0.9037 -0.49% +0.00% +0.9047 +0.8988 Sterling/Dollar GBP=D3 $1.4151 $1.4117 +0.25% +0.00% +$1.4161 +$1.4104 Dollar/Canadian CAD=D3 1.2075 1.2133 -0.49% +0.00% +1.2144 +1.2067 Aussie/Dollar AUD=D3 $0.7773 $0.7728 +0.61% +0.00% +$0.7778 +$0.7715 Euro/Swiss EURCHF= 1.0982 1.1002 -0.18% +0.00% +1.1020 +1.0981 Euro/Sterling EURGBP= 0.8628 0.8624 +0.05% +0.00% +0.8643 +0.8621 NZ NZD=D3 $0.7213 $0.7172 +0.59% +0.00% +$0.7215 +$0.7159 Dollar/DollarDollar/Norway NOK=D3 8.3140 8.3250 -0.10% +0.00% +8.3530 +8.2815 Euro/Norway EURNOK= 10.1539 10.1270 +0.27% +0.00% +10.1827 +10.0967 Dollar/Sweden SEK= 8.3274 8.3471 +0.07% +0.00% +8.3595 +8.3217 Euro/Sweden EURSEK= 10.1699 10.1630 +0.07% +0.00% +10.1850 +10.1568 <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ World FX rates https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
