Forexpros – The euro edged lower against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke delivered a negative assessment of the outlook for the U.S. economy, but refrained from indicating whether the central bank is considering more monetary easing.
EUR/USD hit 1.2267 during late Asian trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.2280, inching down 0.11%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.2188, Tuesday’s low and near-term resistance at 1.2315, Tuesday’s high.
In testimony on the economy and monetary policy to the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday, Bernanke said growth had lost momentum in the first half of the year and added that progress on cutting the U.S. unemployment rate was “frustratingly” slow.
However, he refrained from indicating whether the Fed would embark on a third round of quantitative easing to stimulate the economy, but reiterated that the central bank was prepared to take further action to support the economic recovery if necessary.
The euro was little changed against the pound, with EUR/GBP dipping 0.04% to 0.7852 and edged lower against the yen, with EUR/JPY slipping 0.18% to 97.02.
Later Wednesday, Ben Bernanke was to testify in front of the House Financial Services Committee. In addition, the U.S. was to publish official data on building permits and housing starts.
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