Investing.com - The dollar held steady at one-month highs against the other major currencies on Wednesday, as hopes for a U.S. rate hike before the end of the year continued to lend broad support to the greenback and as global growth concerns also boosted demand for the safe-haven currency.
The dollar was steady against the yen, with USD/JPY at 120.10.
The dollar remained supported after comments by some Federal Reserve officials Monday night indicated that a U.S. rate hike is still on the cards this year.
St. Louis Fed President James Bullard and Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart indicated in separate remarks that the U.S. central bank is still likely to raise short-term interest rates this year.
Investors were looking ahead to a speech by Fed Chair Janet Yellen later in the week for additional clarity on the bank’s decision last week to leave interest rates on hold.
Meanwhile, markets were jittery after data earlier showed that China's Caixin manufacturing purchasing managers' index fell to 47.0 this month from 47.3 in August, compared to expectations for a rise to 47.5.
The weak data added to concerns over a global economic slowdown.
Markets in Japan remained closed for a third day on Wednesday for a national holiday.
EUR/USD was little changed, near fresh two-and-a-half week lows of 1.1131.
Research group Markit reported on Wednesday that Germany's manufacturing PMI fell to 52.5 in September from 53.3 the previous month, while the services PMI ticked down to 54.3 from 54.9.
France's manufacturing PMI ticked up to 50.4 this month from 48.3 in August, while the services PMI rose to 51.2 from 50.6.
For the entire euro zone, the composite PMI, which includes both manufacturing activity and services, slipped to 53.9 in September, Markit reported, from a reading of 54.3 in August.
Elsewhere, the dollar was higher against the pound and the Swiss franc, with GBP/USD down 0.33% at 1.5310 and with USD/CHF adding 0.21% to 0.9769.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were weaker, with AUD/USD retreating 0.64% to 0.7043 and with NZD/USD shedding 0.27% to 0.6276.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD held steady at 1.3262.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 96.51, the highest level since August 19.