Investing.com - The dollar edged higher against the euro on Wednesday and slipped lower against the yen, as investors awaited the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s October meeting later in the day.
During European morning trade, EUR/USD slipped 0.09% to 1.3525 from Tuesday’s close of 1.3537.
The dollar’s gains were held in check after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke reiterated the bank’s commitment to highly accommodative monetary policy on Tuesday.
Bernanke said the Fed would maintain its accommodative monetary policy for as long as needed and would only taper its USD85 billion-a-month asset purchase program when it was assured of a sustained recovery in the labor market.
Investors were turning their attention to the minutes of the Fed’s October meeting due later for further indications on the future course of U.S. monetary policy.
The U.S. was also to release what would be closely watched data on retail sales and consumer prices.
USD/JPY was down 0.18% to 99.95, moving back from the two-month highs of 100.42 struck on Friday.
The pound rose to three week highs against the dollar, with GBP/USD rising 0.21% to 1.6153.
The pound initially softened after Wednesday’s minutes of the Bank of England’s November meeting said there were “uncertainties” over the durability of the U.K. economic recovery and that there was a case for not raising interest rates immediately when the 7% unemployment threshold was reached.
The dollar dipped against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF inching down 0.05% to 0.9104.
The greenback was broadly higher against the Australian, New Zealand and Canadian dollars, with AUD/USD down 0.32% to 0.9402, NZD/USD losing 0.38% to trade at 0.8340 and USD/CAD slipping 0.12% to 1.0456.
Australia’s dollar weakened after Reserve Bank of Australia Assistant Governor Guy Debelle said the bank would prefer the exchange rate to be lower.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, dipped 0.04% to 80.68.
During European morning trade, EUR/USD slipped 0.09% to 1.3525 from Tuesday’s close of 1.3537.
The dollar’s gains were held in check after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke reiterated the bank’s commitment to highly accommodative monetary policy on Tuesday.
Bernanke said the Fed would maintain its accommodative monetary policy for as long as needed and would only taper its USD85 billion-a-month asset purchase program when it was assured of a sustained recovery in the labor market.
Investors were turning their attention to the minutes of the Fed’s October meeting due later for further indications on the future course of U.S. monetary policy.
The U.S. was also to release what would be closely watched data on retail sales and consumer prices.
USD/JPY was down 0.18% to 99.95, moving back from the two-month highs of 100.42 struck on Friday.
The pound rose to three week highs against the dollar, with GBP/USD rising 0.21% to 1.6153.
The pound initially softened after Wednesday’s minutes of the Bank of England’s November meeting said there were “uncertainties” over the durability of the U.K. economic recovery and that there was a case for not raising interest rates immediately when the 7% unemployment threshold was reached.
The dollar dipped against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF inching down 0.05% to 0.9104.
The greenback was broadly higher against the Australian, New Zealand and Canadian dollars, with AUD/USD down 0.32% to 0.9402, NZD/USD losing 0.38% to trade at 0.8340 and USD/CAD slipping 0.12% to 1.0456.
Australia’s dollar weakened after Reserve Bank of Australia Assistant Governor Guy Debelle said the bank would prefer the exchange rate to be lower.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, dipped 0.04% to 80.68.