(Adds early U.S. market activity, previous LONDON)
- Investors still assessing Fed minutes from Wednesday
- Rouble weakens vs dollar
- Biden: "every indication" Russia plans to go into Ukraine
The U.S. dollar index was little changed on Thursday as investors weighed comments by U.S. President Joe Biden that war appeared imminent after shelling on the Ukraine front line, while they were reassessing the probability of a 50 basis point hike at the Federal Reserve's March meeting.
Biden said there was now "every indication" that Russia was planning to go into Ukraine. Ukraine and pro-Russian separatists within Ukraine earlier exchanged fire on Thursday across a frontline that divides them.
Worries about the crisis in Ukraine have kept a bid in the U.S. dollar along with other safe-haven currencies.
At the same time, investors were still trying to assess the minutes of the Fed's January meeting released Wednesday afternoon. The minutes showed policymakers agreed it was time to tighten monetary policy but also that decisions would depend on a meeting-by-meeting analysis of data.
Against a basket of its rivals =USD , the dollar was flat at 95.8330 after rising above 96 earlier in the day. It fell to its lowest since Friday in the previous session.
The Russian rouble weakened 1.22% versus the greenback at 76.20 per dollar. "The market was clearly on edge regarding Ukraine, and we saw some of that volatility on reports of shelling in Ukraine," said Adam Button, chief currency analyst at ForexLive in Toronto.
But the effect on the market appears to be waning, he said, noting: "The tough talk and warnings are having a diminishing effect, and the market is now waiting to see action or a moving on."
Investors are also still taking in Thursday's Fed minutes, Button said. "There was nothing in the minutes to indicate that a 50 basis point hike is coming in March," he said, so "the market is rethinking the odds of a 50 basis point hike."
"And that's a negative for the U.S. dollar," Button said. "The Fed ... will want to move gradually, deliberately."
Money markets were pricing in a 72% likelihood of a 50 bps rate hike next month compared to 80% at the start of the week.
The dollar was down 0.4% against the Japanese yen at 114.98 EUR=EBS , while it was down 0.2% against the Swiss franc CHF=EBS . The euro was down 0.1% against the dollar at $1.1358 EUR=EBS .
Bitcoin BTC= last fell 4.62% to $42,050.81.
======================================================== Currency bid prices at 10:33AM (1533 GMT)Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid Previous Change Session Dollar index =USD 95.8330 95.8260 +0.02% 0.178% +96.1090 +95.6980 Euro/Dollar EUR=EBS $1.1358 $1.1373 -0.12% -0.09% +$1.1386 +$1.1323 Dollar/Yen JPY=EBS 114.9800 115.4500 -0.42% -0.14% +115.5350 +114.8450 Euro/Yen EURJPY= 130.60 131.30 -0.53% +0.21% +131.4900 +130.4100 Dollar/Swiss CHF=EBS 0.9208 0.9222 -0.16% +0.94% +0.9229 +0.9190 Sterling/Dollar GBP=D3 $1.3612 $1.3583 +0.24% +0.67% +$1.3638 +$1.3557 Dollar/Canadian CAD=D3 1.2693 1.2694 -0.01% +0.39% +1.2734 +1.2675 Aussie/Dollar AUD=D3 $0.7193 $0.7197 -0.04% -1.03% +$0.7217 +$0.7151 Euro/Swiss EURCHF= 1.0458 1.0486 -0.27% +0.86% +1.0495 +1.0449 Euro/Sterling EURGBP= 0.8341 0.8368 -0.32% -0.70% +0.8379 +0.8335 NZ NZD=D3 $0.6698 $0.6680 +0.30% -2.11% +$0.6717 +$0.6660 Dollar/DollarDollar/Norway NOK=D3 8.9195 8.8820 +0.39% +1.22% +8.9310 +8.8785 Euro/Norway EURNOK= 10.1329 10.0904 +0.42% +1.20% +10.1480 +10.0903 Dollar/Sweden SEK= 9.3553 9.2719 +0.73% +3.74% +9.3760 +9.2683 Euro/Sweden EURSEK= 10.6248 10.5479 +0.73% +3.82% +10.6541 +10.5480 <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ World FX rates https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5EDollar positions https://tmsnrt.rs/3gUpqwQ
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