singapore march 22 reuters  the dollar was pinned near fiveweek lows on wednesday ahead of the conclusion of the us federal reserves policy meeting with investors awaiting clarity on the path the central bank is likely to take in the wake of global banking turmoil investor attention is zeroed in on whether the fed will stick to its hawkish path to fight sticky inflation or pause interest rate hikes given recent trouble among banks which has included bankruptcy and lastminute rescues the us dollar index  which measures the currency against six peers was at 10322 just above the fiveweek low of 10299 touched overnight the euro was at 10767 hovering around a fiveweek high of 10789 scaled overnight markets are now pricing in about a 14 chance of the fed not increasing rates with a roughly 86 chance of a 25 basis point hike showed the cme fedwatch tool just a month earlier the market was pricing in a 24 chance of a 50 basis point hike investor sentiment remained fragile with worries over the outlook for the banking sector starting to ease after sharp volatility in the market in the past few weeks following highprofile us banking failures earlier in the month and the rescue of lender credit suisse group ag csgns at the weekend markets are seemingly becoming more comfortable with the idea that authorities have probably done enough to prevent a systemic banking crisis said rodrigo catril a senior currency strategist at national australia bank in sydney it might be early days but the price action over the past 48 hours is certainly signalling a change in mood by investors the fed meeting concludes on wednesday with the 2 pm edt 1800 gmt release of a policy statement followed half an hour later by a news conference by chair jerome powell catril said the fed faces a difficult choice given a strong labour market alongside february inflation figures that were higher than many market watchers expected such circumstances would usually be ripe for a return to a 50 basis point hike were it not for worries over financial stability he said meanwhile the yen weakened 004 to 13259 a dollar whereas sterling was last trading at 12221 up 006 on the day the australian dollar rose 004 to 0667 while the new zealand dollar fell 016 to 0618 in cryptocurrencies bitcoin last fell 014 to 2811413 below a ninemonth peak it touched on monday ethereum  last fell 047 to 179372 reporting by ankur banerjee in singapore editing by christopher cushing