The dollar stabilized on Wednesday, buttressed by hawkish comments from U.S. Federal Reserve officials. The dollar index which tracks the U.S. currency against six major rivals, inched about 0.1 percent higher to 95.758. It remained above Tuesday’s low of 111.38 yen as well as a 17-month low of 110.67 touched last Thursday after Fed Chair Janet Yellen sounded hesitant on the timing of interest rate hikes this year.
The euro edged down about 0.1 percent to $1.1207 although it was well above its post-attack low of $1.1188 and the Australian dollar, which usually sells off in times of heightened risk aversion, edged down around 0.1 percent to $0.7613.
Sterling edged down 0.1 percent to $1.4195 after dropping more than 1 percent to one-week lows against the dollar following news of the attacks.
Global Stocks Steady
Meanwhile, Global equity markets were little changed, rebounding from early losses while safe-haven gold and government bonds eased from higher levels following the suicide explosions in Brussels on Tuesday. Travel sector stocks, including airlines and hotels, were among the hardest-hit. Equities managed, however, to recover from sharp losses and bonds and gold eased from their early highs.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 41.3 points, or 0.23 percent, to 17,582.57, the S&P 500 lost 1.8 points, or 0.09 percent, to 2,049.8 and the Nasdaq Composite added 12.79 points, or 0.27 percent, to 4,821.66.
In Europe the FTSEuroFirst 300 index of leading shares closed down 0.12 percent at 1,338.20, rebounding from a 1.6 percent drop. Belgian stocks rose 0.17 percent after having been down as much as 1.4 percent. MSCI’s index of world shares edged down 0.03 percent.
