Early trade in New York: Dollar flat to slightly up ahead of Fed guidance

NEW YORK: The US dollar was flat to slightly higher on Wednesday, with 10-year Treasury yields hitting fresh 13-month highs ahead of the outcome 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.

The US benchmark 10-year note yield rose to a 13-month peak of 1.676% and was last up at 1.655%.

Ahead of the Fed statement later on Wednesday, eurodollar futures, which track short-term rate expectations, have priced a 90% chance of a rate hike by December 2022, with three hikes seen in 2023.

In mid-morning trading, the dollar index was flat at 91.865.

The euro was up 0.1% at $1.1912, after declining in the past three sessions.

The rouble fell 1.3% against the greenback to 73.78 per dollar, after US President Joe Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin would face consequences for directing efforts to swing the 2020 US presidential election to Donald Trump.

Against the yen, the greenback firmed 0.2% to 109.17 yen, hovering near nine-month highs hit this week.

The British pound was flat at $1.3896%, recovering from profit-taking after it hit a near three-year high last month on the back of a fast vaccine roll-out.

In the cryptocurrency market, bitcoin fell 3.4% to $54,978.00, slipping further away from a record high of $61,781.83 hit on Saturday.