Investing.com - The dollar held steady at two-month highs against the other major currencies on Wednesday, as expectations for a June rate hike in the U.S. continued to boost demand for the greenback.
USD/JPY rose 0.39% to 110.42, not far from last week’s three-and-a-half week highs of 110.58.
The dollar remained supported after data on Tuesday showed that U.S. new home sales soared to the highest level since the start of 2008 in April.
The Commerce Department said new home sales rose by 16.6% to an annual unit rate of 619,000 last month.
The data added to expectations that the Fed could raise interest rates in the near term after last week’s April Fed meeting minutes flagged a possible rate hike if the economy continues to improve.
EUR/USD was steady at 1.1133, just off the previous session’s two-month lows of 1.1132.
The euro gained ground after Greece and its creditors reached a deal on Wednesday to unlock €10 billion in bailout funds and trigger work on debt relief, easing concerns over another euro zone debt crisis.
Also Wednesday, the German research institute, Ifo said its Business Climate Index improved to a five-month high of 107.7 this month from a reading of 106.6 in April, above forecasts for 106.8.
The dollar was lower against the pound and the Swiss franc, with GBP/USD up 0.46% at 1.4703 and with USD/CHF slipping 0.13% to 0.9921.
Sterling found some support as uncertainty over the looming referendum on Britain’s European Union membership eased.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars remained higher, with AUD/USD up 0.08% at 0.7188 and with NZD/USD rising 0.21% to 0.6751.
Elsewhere, USD/CAD slid 0.34% to trade at 1.3082, pulling away from Tuesday’s six-week high of 1.3187.
The Bank of Canada said on Wednesday that it was leaving its overnight cash rate unchanged at 0.50%, in line with market expectations.
The commodity currencies remained supported as oil prices rallied after the American Petroleum Institute said on Tuesday that U.S. crude stocks dropped by 5.1 million barrels to 536.8 million last week.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 95.59, just off Tuesday’s two-month highs of 95.66.