Investing.com - The U.S. dollar moved higher against its major counterparts in Asian trade Wednesday, as Germany’s leader expressed optimism on addressing Greek debt and Wall Street put together gains for a second consecutive day.
In mid-day Asian trade, the greenback was higher against the euro, with EUR/USD slipping 0.13% to hit 1.3660.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed confidence that rescue measures to address Greek debt were progressing, and rejected the notion that Greek bankruptcy would provide a quick solution to the euro-zone’s debt crisis.
Everything that I hear from Greece is that the Greek government has hopefully understood the signs of the time and is now doing the things that are on the daily agenda," Merkel said in Berlin, ahead of a scheduled teleconference with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Europe was doing everything it could to “avoid disorderly processes” Merkel added.
Wall Street shares finished Tuesday’s session higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 0.4%, the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 1.5%, and the S&P 500 climbed 0.9%.
Meanwhile, the greenback was higher against the British pound, with GBP/USD down by 0.05% to hit 1.5769.
The dollar was higher against both the Japanese yen and the Swiss franc with USD/JPY gaining 0.08% to hit 77.03, and USD/CHF up by 0.15% to hit 0.8818.
The greenback was mixed against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts with USD/CAD up 0.22% to hit 0.9878, AUD/USD lower by 0.29% to hit 1.0281, and NZD/USD falling 0.11% to hit 0.8217.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.21% at 77.75.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was scheduled to meet with officials from Europe’s Economic and Financial Affairs Council, Ecofin, in Wroclaw, Poland later this week.