The U.S. dollar edged up against some major currencies Wednesday, taking back some losses from the previous day, as investors awaited a congressional testimony from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.
The ICE dollar index , which tracks the U.S. currency against six others, climbed to 82.679 from 82.599 late Tuesday in North America.
The gains retraced some of the index’s losses Tuesday as investors placed bets on whether Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke would repeat his dovish tone from the previous week.
Bernanke was due to testify before the House of Representatives later in the day, followed by an appearance before the Senate on Thursday in his twice-a-year report to the Congress.
Crédit Agricole strategists said many analysts thought Bernanke could offer a more hawkish take on when the Fed would begin slowing its pace of monetary stimulus.
“There seems to be the notion that Bernanke will sound less dovish as compared to last week’s speech. However, there is the risk that such expectations lead to another disappointment, especially as he may stick to the view that rates will stay low for longer than would be implied by a further falling unemployment rate,” they said.
The U.S. currency also registered a minor gain on the WSJ Dollar Index , which uses a slightly wider basket than the ICE index, rising to 74.63 from 74.52.
Among the major currency pairs, the British pound rose to $1.5222 from $1.5115 on Tuesday, extending gains after the Bank of England released the minutes of the first meeting led by Gov. Mark Carney. The minutes showed that the Monetary Policy Committee was unanimous in leaving the central bank’s policy interest rate and quantitative easing program unchanged.
The euro , meanwhile, climbed to $1.3163 from late Tuesday’s $1.3142.
Against the Japanese yen , the dollar climbed to ¥99.69, compared with ¥99.21 Tuesday.
The Australian dollar declined after recording strong gains the previous day, when minutes of the central bank’s last meeting suggested it was likely to adopt a wait-and-see attitude for now. The Aussie bought 92.16 U.S. cents, versus 92.39 cents Tuesday.
Source : Marketwatch
