Investing.com - The dollar bounced off the previous session’s seven-week lows against the other major currencies on Wednesday, as comments by Federal Reserve officials sparked fresh hopes for a U.S. rate hike as soon as next month.
EUR/USD slipped 0.12% to 1.1265, pulling away from Tuesday’s seven-week high of 1.1324.
The dollar strengthened broadly after Atlanta Federal President President Dennis Lockhart said on Tuesday that two rate hikes in 2016 were a possibility.
The comments came shortly after New York Fed head William Dudley said that the U.S. central bank might raise rates as soon as its September policy meeting.
GBP/USD fell 0.22% to 1.3017, reapproaching Monday’s one-month trough of 1.2862.
Markets shrugged off a report by the U.K. Office for National Statistics saying that the claimant count fell by 8,600 in July, compared to expectations for a increase of 9,500 people, and following an advance of 900 a month earlier.
The unemployment rate remained at 4.9% in the three months to June, in line with forecasts.
Meanwhile, the average earnings index, including bonuses, rose by 2.4% in the three months to June, in line with forecasts and after increasing by 2.3% in the three months to May.
Excluding bonuses, wages rose by 2.3%, also in line with the consensus estimate and following a 2.2% increase in the three months to May.
USD/JPY climbed 0.45% to 100.75, easing off the previous session’s one-and-a-half month low of 99.52, while USD/CHF added 0.18% to 0.9624.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were weaker, with AUD/USD down 0.81% at 0.7632 and with NZD/USD declining 0.70% to 0.7234.
Earlier Wednesday, Statistics New Zealand said that the number of employed people increased by 2.4% in the second quarter, exceeding expectations for a 0.6% gain.
The unemployment rate fell to 5.1% in the second quarter from 5.7% in the first quarter, compared to expectations for a slip to 5.3%.
In Australia, data showed that the wage price index edged up 0.5% in the second quarter, in line with expectations.
Year-on-year, wage prices rose 2.1% in the three months to June, beating expectations for a 2.0% gain.
Elsewhere, USD/CAD gained 0.35% to 1.2907, boucing off Tuesday’s one-and-a-half month low of 1.2793.
The commodity currencies were hit a sharp drop in oil prices on Wednesday amid bets for bearish U.S. stockpile data later in the day.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.21% at 94.95, off the previous session’s seven-week low of 94.38.