Investing.com - The dollar regained ground on Wednesday, pulling away from seven-week lows as investors awaited a speech from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, while sterling fell, giving back some of the previous sessions strong gains.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose 0.25% to 100.52, backing away from Tuesday’s lows of 100.47, the weakest since December 8.
The greenback had fallen after President-elect Donald Trump said the U.S. dollar was too strong.
In an interview published in the Wall Street Journal website on Monday Trump said U.S. companies could not compete with China "because our currency is too strong. And it's killing us".
The dollar was higher against the yen, with USD/JPY up 0.51% to 113.17, after falling to a seven-week trough of 112.58.
Investors were looking ahead to a speech by the Fed chief in San Francisco later Wednesday, which could offer fresh indications on the direction of monetary policy.
On Tuesday, San Francisco Fed President John Williams called for gradual U.S. interest-rate hikes over the next few years.
Fed Governor Lael Brainard said Tuesday the Fed might hike rates more aggressively if deficit spending under the Trump administration fueled inflation.
Market watchers were also awaiting the U.S. inflation report for December, which was expected to show an increase of 0.3% after rising 0.2% in November.
The euro slid lower, with EUR/USD down 0.19% at 1.0693.
Sterling was also lower, with GBP/USD down 0.65% at 1.2327.
The pair ended the previous sessions with gains of 3.03%, the biggest one-day percentage gain since January 2009 after British Prime Minister Theresa May outlined her Brexit plans.
May confirmed that Britain will be leaving the single market when it exits the European Union, but would seek maximum access to it through a new trade agreement.
May also said the final Brexit deal will be put to parliament for a vote.