Forexpros – The U.S. dollar was mixed against its major counterparts on Tuesday, after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank was prepared to take further steps to stimulate U.S. growth if necessary. During U.S. morning trade, the greenback was down against the euro, with EUR/USD rising 0.60% to hit 1.3255. In testimony to Congress’s Joint Economic Committee in Washington, Bernanke said that the U.S. economic recovery has been far less robust that the Fed had hoped and added that the labor market is likely to remain sluggish for some time to come. Bernanke also said that the financial crisis in the euro zone was weighing on the U.S. economy and was a “significant” source of stress in markets. Earlier in the day, concerns over a default by Greece mounted after a decision on the country’s next tranche of aid was delayed until mid-November, while euro zone finance ministers examine ways to make banks take bigger losses on their holdings of Greek debt. But the greenback was higher against the pound, with GBP/USD down 0.28% to hit 1.5387. Earlier in the day, data showed that construction activity in the U.K. fell to a 10-month low in September, as demand in the housing sector remained sluggish. The data added to concerns that the Bank of England may implement fresh easing measures to support the flagging U.K. economy. Elsewhere, the greenback edged higher against the yen and the Swiss franc with USD/JPY climbing 0.35% to hit 76.89 and USD/CHF easing up 0.23% to hit 0.9245. Japan’s Finance Minister Jun Azumi reiterated a warning against speculators pushing the yen too high earlier, saying the recent moves by the euro against the yen were excessive. Meanwhile, the greenback was up against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand cousins, with USD/CAD jumping 0.73% to hit 1.0623, AUD/USD tumbling 1.01% to hit 0.9431 and NZD/USD slipping 0.21% to hit 0.7509. The Reserve Bank of Australia said earlier that it was leaving interest rates unchanged at 4.75%, in light of the “very unsettled conditions in global financial markets.” Elsewhere, official data showed that Australian building approvals rose much more-than-expected in August, jumping 11.4%, far more than the forecast 1.1% increase. The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, declined 0.28% to hit 79.87. Also Tuesday, official data showed that U.S. factory orders fell unexpectedly in August, dropping 0.2% after increasing by a downwardly revised 2.1% the previous month. Analysts had expected factory orders to decline 0.1% in August.

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