By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The dollar declined on Friday, along with U.S. Treasury yields, while investors looked ahead to next week's Federal Reserve meeting for more clarity on the outlook for rate hikes.
Expectations that the Fed will tighten monetary policy at a faster pace than previously anticipated had driven a rise in yields and the dollar earlier this week, and the U.S. dollar index was set for biggest weekly percentage gain since mid-December.
U.S. Treasury yields fell as stock market declines reflected poor risk appetite, while concerns about potential conflict in Ukraine drove demand for the safe haven debt.
Markets are pricing in as many as four rate hikes this year, starting from March and expect the Fed to start trimming its $8 trillion-plus balance sheet within months. Next week's Fed meeting could shed some light on how fast it will tighten.
"Everything is going to be somewhat calm" until the Fed releases its statement on Wednesday after the two-day meeting, said Bipan Rai, North American head of FX strategy at CIBC Capital Markets in Toronto.
"It makes sense the dollar is somewhat muted today given the lack of real impetus from the data front."
The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against major peers, was down 0.1% on the day at 95.650 but up 0.5% for the week.
In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin was also dragged lower and hit its lowest level since August. It was last down 6%, while ether was down more than 8%.
Against the yen, the dollar was last down 0.4% at 113.680. For the week, the dollar was down about 0.5% against the yen. The euro was last up 0.3% against the dollar at $1.1341, while it was down about 0.6% for the week.
Retail sales in Britain added to recent weaker economic data. The pound was down 0.3% against the dollar at $1.3553.
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Currency bid prices at 3:39PM (2039 GMT)
Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid
Previous Change
Session
Dollar index
95.6500 95.7650 -0.11% -0.014% +95.8400 +95.4910
Euro/Dollar
$1.1341 $1.1311 +0.27% -0.24% +$1.1360 +$1.1301
Dollar/Yen
113.6800 114.0900 -0.35% -1.25% +114.1500 +113.6000
Euro/Yen
128.93 129.04 -0.09% -1.07% +129.3000 +128.5700
Dollar/Swiss
0.9119 0.9173 -0.57% -0.02% +0.9172 +0.9108
Sterling/Dollar
$1.3553 $1.3593 -0.29% +0.22% +$1.3602 +$1.3546
Dollar/Canadian
1.2576 1.2504 +0.58% -0.53% +1.2579 +1.2498
Aussie/Dollar
$0.7177 $0.7227 -0.69% -1.27% +$0.7229 +$0.7172
Euro/Swiss
1.0340 1.0374 -0.33% -0.28% +1.0377 +1.0336
Euro/Sterling
0.8367 0.8315 +0.63% -0.39% +0.8376 +0.8316
NZ
Dollar/Dollar $0.6712 $0.6755 -0.62% -1.92% +$0.6758 +$0.6708
Dollar/Norway
8.9030 8.8390 +0.89% +1.23% +8.9130 +8.8105
Euro/Norway
10.0906 9.9912 +0.99% +0.78% +10.1141 +9.9814
Dollar/Sweden
9.2007 9.2234 -0.01% +2.03% +9.2434 +9.1534
Euro/Sweden
10.4342 10.4349 -0.01% +1.96% +10.4476 +10.3838