FOREX-Dollar dips with U.S. Treasury yields but still up for week; bitcoin falls

(Updates to late New York trading)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK, Jan 21 (Reuters) - The dollar declined on Friday, along with U.S. 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 U.S. dollar index was set for
biggest weekly percentage gain since mid-December.
U.S. Treasury yields fell as stock market declines reflected poor risk appetite, while concerns about
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.
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 U.S. 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
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)