A U.S. one dollar banknote is seen in this illustration taken November 23, 2021. [Source: Reuters]

The U.S. dollar slid as authorities stepped in to cap the fallout from the sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SIVB.O), with investors hoping the Federal Reserve will take a less aggressive monetary path.

The U.S. government announced several measures early on Monday Asian hours and said all SVB customers will have access to their deposits starting on Monday. Officials also said depositors of New York’s Signature Bank (SBNY.O), which was closed Sunday by the New York state financial regulator, would also be made whole at no loss to the taxpayer.

The dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency against six rivals, fell 0.153% at 104.080. The Japanese yen strengthened 0.34% to 134.52 per dollar, the highest in a month as investors made a move to safe-haven Asian currencies.

The euro was up 0.44% to $1.069, while the sterling was last trading at $1.2085, up 0.47% on the day.

The Australian dollar rose 0.79% to $0.663, while the kiwi rose 0.36% to $0.616.

In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin last rose 11.12% to $22,330.00. Ethereum, last rose 12.12% to $1,598.90.

The SVB collapse led investors to speculate that the Fed would now be reluctant to rock the boat by hiking interest rates by a super-sized 50 basis points this month, with the spotlight firmly on Tuesday’s inflation data.

Fed fund futures surged in early trading to imply only a 17% chance of a half-point hike, compared to around 70% before the SVB news broke last week.