Dollar dips with US Treasury yields but still up for week; bitcoin falls

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NEW YORK — The dollar declined on Friday, along with US Treasury yields, while

investors looked ahead to next week’s Federal Reserve meeting for more clarity on the outlook for rate

hikes.

Expectations that the Fed will tighten monetary policy at a faster pace than previously anticipated had

driven a rise in yields and the dollar earlier this week, and the US dollar index was set for

biggest weekly percentage gain since mid-December.

US Treasury yields fell as stock market declines reflected poor risk appetite, while concerns about

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potential conflict in Ukraine drove demand for the safe haven debt.

Markets are pricing in as many as four rate hikes this year, starting from March and expect the Fed to

start trimming its $8 trillion-plus balance sheet within months. Next week’s Fed meeting could shed some

light on how fast it will tighten.

“Everything is going to be somewhat calm” until the Fed releases its statement on Wednesday after the

two-day meeting, said Bipan Rai, North American head of FX strategy at CIBC Capital Markets in Toronto.

“It makes sense the dollar is somewhat muted today given the lack of real impetus from the data front.”

The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against major peers, was down 0.1% on the day at 95.650 but

up 0.5% for the week.

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In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin was also dragged lower and hit its lowest level since August. It

was last down 6%, while ether was down more than 8%.

Against the yen, the dollar was last down 0.4% at 113.680. For the week, the dollar was down

about 0.5% against the yen. The euro was last up 0.3% against the dollar at $1.1341, while it was

down about 0.6% for the week.

Retail sales in Britain added to recent weaker economic data. The pound was down 0.3% against the dollar

at $1.3553.

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Currency bid prices at 3:39PM (2039 GMT)

Description RIC Last US Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid

Previous Change

Session

Dollar index 95.6500 95.7650 -0.11% -0.014% +95.8400 +95.4910

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Euro/Dollar $1.1341 $1.1311 +0.27% -0.24% +$1.1360 +$1.1301

Dollar/Yen 113.6800 114.0900 -0.35% -1.25% +114.1500 +113.6000

Euro/Yen 128.93 129.04 -0.09% -1.07% +129.3000 +128.5700

Dollar/Swiss 0.9119 0.9173 -0.57% -0.02% +0.9172 +0.9108

Sterling/Dollar $1.3553 $1.3593 -0.29% +0.22% +$1.3602 +$1.3546

Dollar/Canadian 1.2576 1.2504 +0.58% -0.53% +1.2579 +1.2498

Aussie/Dollar $0.7177 $0.7227 -0.69% -1.27% +$0.7229 +$0.7172

Euro/Swiss 1.0340 1.0374 -0.33% -0.28% +1.0377 +1.0336

Euro/Sterling 0.8367 0.8315 +0.63% -0.39% +0.8376 +0.8316

NZ $0.6712 $0.6755 -0.62% -1.92% +$0.6758 +$0.6708

Dollar/Dollar

Dollar/Norway 8.9030 8.8390 +0.89% +1.23% +8.9130 +8.8105

Euro/Norway 10.0906 9.9912 +0.99% +0.78% +10.1141 +9.9814

Dollar/Sweden 9.2007 9.2234 -0.01% +2.03% +9.2434 +9.1534

Euro/Sweden 10.4342 10.4349 -0.01% +1.96% +10.4476 +10.3838

(Additional reporting by Iain Withers and Sujata Rao in London and Kevin Buckland in Tokyo; Editing by Hugh

Lawson, Susan Fenton, Richard Chang and Marguerita Choy)