NEW YORK: The dollar steadied amid a broad equity market sell-off on Wednesday, hovering near multi-month lows as market participants looked to the Fed for any change in nuance that could shed light on its monetary outlook.
But cryptocurrencies took the spotlight, plunging in the wake of regulatory moves from China.
“If there’s anything grabbing headlines at this hour it’s a crash in cryptocurrencies,” said Erik Bregar, head of FX strategy at Exchange Bank of Canada in Toronto. “That seems to be what everyone is focused on.”
Bitcoin plunged to its lowest level since January in the wake of China’s decision to ban financial and payment institutions from providing digital currency services.
Rival cryptocurrency Ethereum sank 28% to $2,444.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of world currencies, was last flat at 89.795.
The British pound eased 0.1% against the dollar to $1.4173.
The greenback gained 0.2% against the Canadian dollar to $1.208, but was still hovering near its weakest level since May 2015.
The euro, which touched its highest against the dollar since the beginning of January, fueled by economic optimism, inched up 0.04% to $1.2229.
The dollar fell 0.13% to 108.755 Japanese yen.
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