Astrazeneca Share News (AZN)

* U.S. 10-year yields jump to 13 month high
* Fed 2023 rates projections under scrutiny
* Euro may be hampered by delay in vaccine rollouts
* Rouble falls after Biden Putin will pay for election
interference
* Graphic: World FX rates https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E

(Adds comments, rouble falling on Biden, updates prices)
By Julien Ponthus
LONDON, March 17 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar firmed on
Wednesday with 10-year Treasury yields hitting fresh 13-month
highs ahead of a Federal Reserve policy meeting which could shed
some light on the timing of future rate hikes and the central
bank’s tolerance for rising yields.
With Fed policymakers expected to forecast the fastest U.S.
economic growth in decades in the wake of COVID-19 vaccinations
and $1.9 trillion in new stimulus, market participants will be
focused on clues that the central bank could start raising rates
in 2023, earlier than it had said.
In any event, expectations of a faster-than-expected
economic recovery will likely weigh.
"U.S. yields might receive further upwards thrust and pull
the dollar along with them in the absence of a clear commitment
on the part of the Fed that a further rise in yields is
undesirable", Commerzbank analyst Antje Praefcke wrote in a
morning note.
She added that because the European Central Bank had in
contrast committed to increasing the pace of bond buying to keep
a lid on rising yields, the euro might suffer against the dollar
in the short term.
By midday in Europe, Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields
had crossed the 1.67% bar, their highest level since
February 2020.
The euro was down 0.05% at $1.1896 after declining in
the past three sessions.
Hurt by a possible delay in the European Union's vaccination
effort, the euro seemed set to test last week's 3 1/2-month low
of $1.1835.
Europe's medicines watchdog will release results of its
investigation into incidents of bleeding, blood clots and low
platelet counts in recipients of AstraZeneca's
coronavirus vaccine on Thursday afternoon.
"There is a risk that public trust on the vaccine has been
compromised, and this may weigh on the euro as the vaccination
gap between the EU and US may widen even further," ING analysts
warned.
Europe's painful recovery from the pandemic is in sharp
contrast with other economies, which seem less dependent on
monetary stimulus to pull though.
The Bank of Canada for instance is likely to reduce its bond
purchases as soon as next month, strategists say.
At 1155 GMT, the dollar index was up 0.09% and stood at
91.952, having already risen for three straight sessions
on support mainly from elevated U.S. bond yields.
The rouble fell 1.5% against the dollar to 73.78
after U.S. President Joe Biden said Russian
President Vladimir Putin would face consequences for directing
efforts to swing the 2020 U.S. presidential election to Donald
Trump.
"They're will be more sanctions coming, that is clear, the
question is how severe," said North Asset Management fund
manager Peter Kisler.
Against the yen, the greenback firmed 0.18% to 109.19 yen
, hovering near nine-month highs hit this week.
The British pound was up 0.04% at $1.3901 recovering
from profit-taking after it hit a near three-year high last
month on the back of a fast vaccine roll-out.
Commodity-linked currencies including the Australian dollar
, the New Zealand dollar and the Canadian dollar
traded lower against the U.S. dollar.
In the cryptocurrency market, bitcoin fell 3.6%
to $54,870.00, slipping further away from a record high of
$61,781.83 hit on Saturday.

========================================================
Currency bid prices at 1200 GMT
Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid
Previous Change
Session
Euro/Dollar $1.1892 $1.1903 -0.09% -2.67% +1.1917 +1.1887
Dollar/Yen 109.1850 109.0200 +0.15% +5.71% +109.2250 +109.0650
Euro/Yen 129.85 129.75 +0.08% +2.31% +130.0000 +129.7200
Dollar/Swiss 0.9285 0.9248 +0.38% +4.93% +0.9285 +0.9248
Sterling/Dollar 1.3896 1.3895 +0.01% +1.72% +1.3929 +1.3880
Dollar/Canadian 1.2470 1.2448 +0.18% -2.07% +1.2476 +1.2434
Aussie/Dollar 0.7713 0.7746 -0.42% +0.27% +0.7747 +0.7713
NZ Dollar/Dollar 0.7165 0.7190 -0.33% -0.21% +0.7194 +0.7166


All spots
Tokyo spots
Europe spots
Volatilities
Tokyo Forex market info from BOJ


(Reporting by Julien Ponthus and Marc Jones in London; Editing
by Sam Holmes, Gerry Doyle, Andrew Cawthorne and Giles Elgood)