Investing.com - The dollar pushed higher against the other majors currencies on Wednesday, helped by the release of positive U.S. inflation data and as investors continued to digest comments by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump,
EUR/USD declined 0.42% to 1.0666, off the previous session’s five-week highs of 1.0719.
The U.S. Commerce Department said that consumer prices gained 0.3% in December, in line with expectations and after a 0.2% advance the previous month.
Year-over-year, consumer prices increased 2.1% last month, in line with forecasts and after a 1.7% rise in November.
The greenback had weakened broadly after Donald Trump said to the Wall Street Journal on Monday that U.S. companies could not compete with China "because our currency is too strong. And it's killing us".
In separate remarks, a senior adviser to the U.S. President-elect warned about the risk from a stronger dollar.
Market participants were still eyeing a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, due later in the day.
Elsewhere, GBP/USD tumbled 1% to 1.2286, after rallying 3.03% to a seven-day high of 1.2415 on Tuesday.
The pound found strong support after after British Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed, in a speech on Tuesday, that Britain will be leaving the single market when it exits the European Union, but would seek maximum access to it through a new trade agreement.
May also said the final Brexit deal will be put to parliament for a vote.
Earlier Wednesday, the U.K. Office for National Statistics said the unemployment rate remained unchanged at an 11-year low of 4.8% in the three months to November, in line with forecasts.
The claimant count declined by 10,100 in December, compared to expectations for an increase of 5,000 people.
Meanwhile, the average earnings index, including bonuses, rose by 2.8% in the three months to November, compared to forecasts for a 2.6% rise. Excluding bonuses, wages rose 2.7%, beating forecasts for a 2.6% gain.
USD/JPY climbed 0.68% to 113.41, bouncing off Tuesday’s one-and-a-half month low of 112.58, while USD/CHF added 0.19% to 1.0034.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were weaker, with AUD/USD down 0.16% at 0.7553 and with NZD/USD shedding 0.35% to 0.7193.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD gained 0.52% to trade at 1.3110, after tumbling to a three-month low of 1.3016 on Tuesday.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.52% at 100.80, off Tuesday’s five-week trough of 100.23.