The dollar hovered around recent lows on Friday and was set to notch a modest weekly drop as traders’ concerns at taper talk in Federal Reserve minutes faded, though a pullback in commodity prices and nerves about virus outbreaks kept losses in check.
The dollar has given back a bounce it made after a mention of possible future tapering discussions, in minutes from the Fed’s April meeting, prompted fears of early rate rises.
Investors now figure that any action remains a long way away and that the path might again be clear for a resumption of April’s downtrend as the U.S. trade and account deficits weigh.
Against the euro the dollar was parked at $1.2230, not far above the four-month low $1.2245 it hit earlier in the week and close to testing major support around $1.2345. The dollar index was held below 90 and was last at 89.777.
The index, which measures the greenback against six major currencies, is down about 0.6% for the week so far. Against the Japanese yen the dollar held at 108.74, for a weekly loss of roughly 0.5%.
· Bitcoin under pressure as comeback fades
Bitcoin fell 3% on Friday, giving up gains from the Asia session, as its recovery from this week’s plunge shows signs of faltering.
Bitcoin fell to $39,262 on the Bitstamp exchange. That is roughly 30% above its Wednesday low, but just below its 200-day moving average. Rival cryptocurrency ether also came under pressure on Friday, falling 2% to $2,714.
Ether is down 24% for the week and bitcoin down 15%.
Thai
Eng