Investing.com - The dollar rose against a basket of major currencies on Wednesday, buoyed by better than expected U.S. home sales data while a slump in both the euro and pound underpinned upside momentum in the greenback.
The dollar continued its stuttering recovery from multi-month lows, hitting a session high of 99.96, after the U.S. National Association of Realtors said its pending home sales increased by 5.5% last month, which was far above economists’ forecast of a 2.4% increase.
Meanwhile, several comments from Federal Reserve officials helped shift investors’ focus to the prospect of additional rate hikes this year, after Fed member Charles Evans said he has confidence that two total rate increases in 2017 seems “very safe”.
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Eric Rosengren took a somewhat bullish outlook on possible rate hikes, after he said the U.S. central bank should be prepared to raise interest rates a total of four times in 2017 to prevent the U.S. economy from overheating.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, gained 0.37% to 99.90 by 12:50 EDT.
Elsewhere, sterling lost ground against the greenback, after British Prime Minister Theresa May triggered Article 50, with GBP/USD, down 0.35% to $1.2402.
Meanwhile, EUR/USD fell 0.56% to $1.0753, after a report surfaced, suggesting that European Central Bank policymakers are wary of adjusting their policy message in April, as it may lead to a surge borrowing costs for member countries.
USD/JPY traded largely flat at 111.08, while USD/CAD dipped 0.08% to $1.3373.