RTTN:U.S. Dollar Rises Ahead Of Bernake's Testimony
The U.S. dollar rose against other major currencies in the Asian session on Wednesday, as investors look forward to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernake's testimony before the House Financial Services Committee later in the day.
In his semi-annual testimony, the chairman may stick towards his earlier stance for an accomodative monetary policy some time. Last week, Bernake indicated that the central bank would continue its monetary easing unless labor market improves or inflation changes. Bernake also explained that the Fed's QE tapering does not mean an increase in interest rates or tightening of monetary policy before 2015.
Bernake will testify before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday.
The greenback rose to 99.54 against the yen, rebounding from Tuesday's multi-day low of 98.90. The greenback may probably find resistance around the 100.00 level.
The members of the Bank of Japan's monetary policy board reiterated their dedication to end the deflationary pressures that has plagued the country for 15 years, minutes from the bank's meeting on June 10 and 11 revealed today.
At the meeting, the BoJ decided to retain its target of doubling the monetary base in two years, but stopped short of announcing any new steps to curb bond market volatility.
The U.S. currency climbed to 1.5108 against the pound, up by 0.4 percent from a 4-day low of 1.5169 hit yesterday. On the upside, the greenback may test resistance around the 1.50 area.
The greenback reached as high as 0.9421 against the franc, bouncing from 3-week low of 0.9379 touched in late New York Tuesday. If the bull run continues, the greenback is likely to eye resistance surrounding around the 0.948 level.
The greenback advanced to 1.3136 against the euro, adding almost 0.3 percent from a 5-day low of 1.3174 set yesterday. The next resistance for the greenback lies around the 1.305 level.
The greenback that closed Tuesday's deals at 1.0377 against the loonie approached to 1.0395. Further uptrend for the greenback may see it finding resistance around the 1.045 level.
The Bank of England's minutes of its July 4 meeting, U.K. jobless claims for June and ILO unemployment rate for the three months ended May and Swiss ZEW economic sentiment index for July are slated for release in the European session.
From the U.S., housing starts and building permits for June are due in the New York session.
The Bank of Canada's interest rate decision is due at 10:00 am ET. The central bank is forecast to retain interest rates at 1:00 percent.
