Dollar Hovering at 1-Month Highs; Kiwi Soars
Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was hovering near one-month highs on Wednesday as investors looked for news on trade developments and awaited testimony from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell later in the day.
In a highly anticipated speech on Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump said a trade deal with China was "close" but gave no new details on when or where an agreement would be signed, disappointing investors who had hoped for more clarity on the progress of negotiations.
Trump also rattled some investors by threatening China with even more tariffs if they do not sign a deal and reprised well-worn criticism of the U.S. central bank for failing to cut interest rates deeply enough.
Washington and Beijing have imposed tariffs on each other's goods in a dispute which has roiled global financial markets and raised the risk of recession for some economies as global trade slows.
Market watchers were turning their attention to testimony from Fed head Jerome Powell before a congressional committee at 1600 GMT.
The first public hearings in Trump's impeachment inquiry also begin an hour earlier at 1500 GMT.
The U.S. dollar index was a touch higher at 98.24 by 03:55 AM ET (08:55 GMT), after reaching a one month high of 98.30 overnight.
Against the Japanese yen the dollar was at 109.12, not far below the five-and-a-half month high of 109.48 it hit last week.
The dollar scaled a month-high against the euro overnight and traded marginally below that level at 1.1007 on Wednesday.
The Australian dollar was pinned at 0.6842 by weak, but largely expected, wage data.
The British pound was holding steady at 1.2834, after a brief boost from the Brexit Party's decision not to contest Conservative-held seats at December's election faded.
Meanwhile, the New Zealand dollar rallied more than 1% after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand left rates on hold overnight and said it saw no urgency to ease policy again after two rate cuts this year.
--Reuters contributed to this report
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