Forexpros – The U.S. dollar pushed higher against most of its major counterparts on Thursday, after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke stopped short of indicating that the U.S. central bank was prepared to implement fresh economic stimulus measures.
During U.S. morning trade, the dollar regained ground against the euro, with EUR/USD shedding 0.17% to hit 1.2560.
In testimony to a congressional committee in Washington, Bernanke said that the Fed remained “prepared to take action” to protect the U.S. economy and financial system if stresses on the financial system escalate, but stopped short of indicating what these actions might be.
The euro advanced to a session high against the greenback earlier after the People’s Bank of China said it will lower benchmark interest rates, in a bid to bolster growth in the world’s second largest economy and counter the effects of a slowdown in global growth.
Meanwhile, solid demand at an auction of Spanish government debt and fresh hopes that European leaders are stepping up efforts to tackle Spain’s banking crisis had also bolstered investor sentiment on the single currency.
Spain’s Treasury successfully sold EUR2.07 billion of bonds, slightly more than the targeted amount, in an auction which met with solid investor demand, but saw borrowing costs rise.
The greenback trimmed losses against the pound, with GBP/USD up 0.37% to hit 1.5553.
The pound strengthened broadly earlier after the Bank of England left U.K. interest rates unchanged at 0.5%, and maintained its quantitative easing program at GBP325 billion.
The announcement came after data showing that the U.K. service sector grew faster than expected in May, matching the strong rate of growth seen the previous month.
Elsewhere, the greenback was higher against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY advancing 0.37% to hit 79.47 and USD/CHF up 0.19% to hit 0.9561.
The greenback trimmed losses against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD shedding 0.15% to hit 1.0260, AUD/USD up 0.11% to hit 0.9937 and NZD/USD gaining 0.10% to hit 0.7713.
The Australian dollar strengthened earlier after official data showed the country’s economy added 38,900 jobs in May, beating expectations for a 2,200 decline and following a 7,000 rise the previous month.
Australia’s unemployment rate ticked up to 5.1% from April’s 5.0% reading, in line with expectations.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, edged up 0.02%, to trade at 82.28.
Also Thursday, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week fell by 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 377,000, in line with expectations.
The previous week’s figure was revised up to 389,000 from a previously reported 383,000.