NEW YORK, March 30 (Reuters) - The euro turned positive against the U.S. dollar, hitting session highs on Wednesday in choppy trading on a combination of technical and fundamental factors.
The euro's advance started shortly after noon in the New York session after European Central bank executive board member Lorenzo Bini Smaghi said the bank's policy is to gradually raise interest rates. For more, see [ID:nLDE72T1ZS] On the way up, the euro triggered stops above $1.4100.
The euro zone currency rose to the day's highs at $1.4148
Bini Smaghi's comments suggested that "a series of rate hikes may be coming this year," said Brian Dolan, chief strategist at Forex.com.
The move sparked short-covering on the euro's break of the $1.4110 area, Dolan said, and its move above a 200-hour moving average around $1.4125 was a bullish sign suggesting more gains ahead. A break above $1.4160, he said, would target $1.4250 and a possible move up to $1.44-45 beyond that. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Steven C. Johnson; Editing by Dan Grebler)