(Updates to U.S. markets open, changes dateline (previously
LONDON), changes byline)
* Graphic: World FX rates tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E
By Stephen Culp
NEW YORK, May 20 (Reuters) - 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 was last down 0.37% at 89.884.
That weakness helped boost the Australian dollar
which also got a lift from strong April employment data. It was
up 0.61% at $0.7773.
The euro gained 0.3% to $1.2211 and the dollar
fell 0.42% to 108.765 Japanese yen.
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 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 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 89.8840 90.2200 -0.37% -0.108% +90.2300 +89.8550
Euro/Dollar $1.2211 $1.2175 +0.30% +0.00% +$1.2218 +$1.2169
Dollar/Yen 108.7650 109.2150 -0.42% +0.00% +109.3000 +108.7600
Euro/Yen 132.83 132.95 -0.09% +0.00% +133.0800 +132.7200
Dollar/Swiss 0.8993 0.9037 -0.49% +0.00% +0.9047 +0.8988
Sterling/Dollar $1.4151 $1.4117 +0.25% +0.00% +$1.4161 +$1.4104
Dollar/Canadian 1.2075 1.2133 -0.49% +0.00% +1.2144 +1.2067
Aussie/Dollar $0.7773 $0.7728 +0.61% +0.00% +$0.7778 +$0.7715
Euro/Swiss 1.0982 1.1002 -0.18% +0.00% +1.1020 +1.0981
Euro/Sterling 0.8628 0.8624 +0.05% +0.00% +0.8643 +0.8621
NZ $0.7213 $0.7172 +0.59% +0.00% +$0.7215 +$0.7159
Dollar/Dollar
Dollar/Norway 8.3140 8.3250 -0.10% +0.00% +8.3530 +8.2815
Euro/Norway 10.1539 10.1270 +0.27% +0.00% +10.1827 +10.0967
Dollar/Sweden 8.3274 8.3471 +0.07% +0.00% +8.3595 +8.3217
Euro/Sweden 10.1699 10.1630 +0.07% +0.00% +10.1850 +10.1568
(Reporting by Stephen Culp;
Additional reporting by Saikat Chatterjee in London
Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
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