Dollar steadies near seven-week lows as interest rates hold

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The dollar steadied on Tuesday amid a mix of gains and losses against major currencies as interest rates in the United States moved in a tight range and the outlook for vaccinations in Europe improved.

After touching its lowest level in nearly seven weeks in Asia trading, the dollar index steadied in Europe and was flat in the morning in New York at 91.0160, down 0.02%.

The euro rose 0.15% to $1.2053 and the British pound backed off 0.12% to $1.397 after gaining 1% on Monday.

The dollar has fallen in April as U.S. bond yields retreated from the 14-month highs of 1.776% reached last month. The currency and yield declines have come as evidence mounted that the Federal Reserve would be slower about tightening monetary policy than it had appeared to the market, analysts said.

The 10-year Treasury yield was trading in a narrow range around 1.60% on Tuesday.

The currency and interest rate markets could be relatively calm for another few weeks as the Fed and the European Central Bank each take their time about adjusting their rate policies, said Mazen Issa, senior currency strategist at TD Securities.

“There really isn’t a strong catalyst in either direction this month to really break us out of ranges,” Mazen said.

Some encouragement for euro came from the announcement that the European Union has secured an additional 100 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine produced by BioNTech and Pfizer.

The vaccination news suggests that the pace of Europe’s recovery from the pandemic will begin to catch up with the United States and its story of faster growth, Issa said.

“The FX market is moving away from this idea of full-on U.S. exceptionalism to being in a little bit more in limbo now,” he said.

Against the Japanese yen, the dollar bounced to 108.822 after having broken below 108 for the first time since March 5.

The commodity-linked Norwegian crown hit its strongest since 2018 versus the dollar, and also reached its strongest since January 2020 versus the euro.

Bitcoin was up less than 1% and trading around $56,138 on Tuesday morning.

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