By Richard Leong
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar rose modestly against a basket of currencies on Wednesday, buttressed by higher U.S. bond yields and the view the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates further on signs of ongoing economic growth.
The dollar also has found support from reduced fears about a U.S. trade war with China and that Western air strikes on Syria would intensify.
The Federal Reserve's latest Beige Book, released on Wednesday, showed the U.S. economy was growing at a modest to moderate pace in March through early April.
Nevertheless, the greenback remains on a bearish path on expectations that the U.S. trade and federal deficits would balloon in the coming quarters, many analysts said.
"We have been in a remarkable stable range since February," said Paresh Upadhyaya, director of currency strategy at Amundi Pioneer Investments in Boston. "There are opposing factors that have kept the dollar in this narrow range."
The dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback against a basket of six currencies, gained 0.12 percent, to 89.626. It has moved between 88.253 and 90.932 since mid-February.
U.S. two-year Treasury yield (US2YT=RR) hit 2.431 percent on Wednesday, which was its highest since September 2008, Reuters data showed.
The yield spread on U.S. two-year Treasuries and German two-year Bunds
(GRAPHIC: US/German 2-year yield gap widest since 1989 - https://reut.rs/2JX0Iue)
The euro (EUR=) was up 0.03 percent, at $1.2374, while the greenback
Among other G10 currencies, the pound was down 0.6 percent at $1.4201
Annual British consumer price inflation slowed to 2.5 percent in March from 2.7 percent posted in February.
Markets were still pricing in a more than even chance the Bank of England will hike interest rates in May, expectations of which have helped sterling advance aggressively this month.
The Canadian dollar weakened 0.6 percent to C$1.2630 per dollar