FOREX-Dollar steady as commodities fall; bitcoin dips

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FOREX-Dollar steady as commodities fall; bitcoin dips

HONG KONG Reuters -- Falling commodity prices dragged the Australian and Canadian currencies lower on Tuesday, although the dollar was steady against most other majors while the price of bitcoin continued to fall.

The Aussie dollar dropped as low as $0.6920, its lowest since July 2020, having fallen 1.7% overnight, according to analysts at CBA attributed to declines in global asset prices.

They said that the AUD could possibly fall further against the USD and other major crosses in the near term due to the heightened financial market volatility.

Global share markets suffered a hit on Monday with the Nasdaq falling more than 4% in a sell-off led by mega-cap growth stocks. Oil prices fell around 6%, extending declines on Tuesday due to the coronaviruses in China, the top oil importer, worried about demand.

The Canadian dollar, which touched C.3037 per dollar, was its lowest since November 2020 and the Norwegian crown touched 9.7184 per dollar, its lowest since June 2020, hurt the Canadian dollar, which touched C $1.3037 per dollar, its lowest since November 2020.

The dollar index was steady on Tuesday morning at 103.7, having risen as high as 104.19 overnight, a fresh 20 year peak. It later lost ground after Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic hosed down talk of a 75 basis point at the Fed's next meeting.

Markets have priced in a reasonable chance of such a hike in the past few weeks.

The dollar has gone up for five straight weeks because of expectations that the Fed will tamp down inflation, which is why the U.S. Treasury yields have climbed.

The benchmark 10 year yield fell below 3% to 2.9846% on Tuesday.

Bostic's moderate comments helped the Japanese yen recover a bit from a 20 year low of 131.34 yen per dollar hit overnight. The Japanese currency, which is sensitive to moves in U.S. yields, increased a bit on Tuesday to 130.1.

The euro was a bit higher at $1.0561 and the sterling was little changed at $1.2329.

There was excitement in the criptocurrency markets, where it fell below $30,000 for the first time since July 2021.

The world's largest coin is trading largely in line with other risk assets, such as tech stocks. It was last a little firmer around $30,600.