Investing.com - The dollar strengthened against a basket of the other major currencies on Wednesday, with the yen extending a pullback from near 18-month lows and the euro also weakening.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose 0.36% to 94.36, rebounding from Tuesday’s eight-month lows of 93.62.
USD/JPY rose to highs of 109.14, off the almost 18-month low of 107.62 set on Monday.
The dollar had weakened across the board after recent dovish comments by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen prompted investors to push back expectations on the timing of the next interest rate increase.
Lower interest rates make the dollar less attractive to yield seeking investors.
The yen had largely shrugged off warnings from Japanese officials that they could intervene in the foreign exchange market to weaken the currency.
The yen has strengthened broadly since the start of the year as market turmoil sparked from steep falls in China’s stock markets and currency and fears about the health of Europe’s banking sector bolstered safe haven demand.
The Bank of Japan shocked markets with its decision to adopt negative interest rates earlier this year despite this the yen has continued to strengthen, posing a challenge to the central bank’s attempts to shore up inflation.
The dollar was also higher against the euro, with EUR/USD down 0.37% to 1.1339, off Tuesday’s six-month peaks of 1.1464.
The commodity linked currencies were broadly lower despite upbeat trade data from China overnight which eased concerns over a slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy.
Official data showed that China’s exports jumped 11.5% from a year earlier in March, the first increase since June.
Oil prices turned lower on Wednesday, weighing on risk appetite, after Saudi Arabia's oil minister appeared to rule out a production freeze ahead of Sunday’s meeting of major producers in Doha.
AUD/USD slid 0.23% to 0.7664 while NZD/USD was little changed at 0.6923.
USD/CAD rose 0.22% to 1.2799, off overnight lows of 1.2748, levels last seen in July.
The Canadian dollar remained supported ahead of the Bank of Canada’s rate review later in the day, with the bank expected to keep interest rates on hold and revise up its growth forecast for the year.
Investors were also looking ahead to U.S. economic reports on retail sales and producer prices later Wednesday.