Early trade in New York: Dollar comes down from Fed minutes high

NEW YORK: The dollar lost ground on Thursday, hovering just above a multi-month low following Wednesday’s bounce prompted by the release of US Federal Reserve meeting minutes.

In those minutes, from the Fed’s most recent monetary policy meeting, several policymakers said a discussion about reducing the pace of asset purchases would be appropriate “at some point” if the US economic recovery continues to gain momentum.

The dollar index was last down 0.37% at 89.884.

That weakness helped boost the Australian dollar which also got a lift from strong April employment data. It was up 0.61% at $0.7773.

The euro gained 0.3% to $1.2211 and the dollar fell 0.42% to 108.765 Japanese yen.

The cryptocurrency roller coaster was on an upswing in the wake of a steep sell-off following China’s regulatory move against the digital assets.

That sell-off has since reversed course with the help of bargain hunters.

Bitcoin was most recently up 13.4% at $41,812 after plummeting to 54% below its record high hit just over a month ago after some of its prominent backers reiterated their support for the digital currency.

Smaller rival Ether gained 19.5% to $2,911. On Wednesday, it fell 22.8%, its biggest daily fall since March 2020.