US dollar dips against euro ahead of Bernanke speech

UNITED STATED. The US dollar fell against the euro in range-bound trading Thursday as the market awaited Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke's speech at a central bankers meeting.

At 2100 GMT, the euro rose to 1.4251 dollars from 1.4221 late Wednesday in New York.

The single European currency climbed against the Japanese currency, to 134.23 yen from 133.72.

The dollar, however, rose slightly against the Japanese unit, to 94.17 yen from 94.03.

Mostly positive US economic data on Thursday drove Wall Street higher for the third straight day, dampening the greenback, analysts said.

"US economic data helped provide a boost to equities, and thus weighed on the US dollar and Japanese yen, though trading ranges across the majors were so small one might believe it?s a holiday," said Terri Belkas, currency strategist with Forex Capital Markets.

The Conference Board, a US business research firm, said Thursday its leading economic index rose for the fourth straight month in July.

The Federal Reserve index of the manufacturing sector in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania region turned positive in August, its highest level since November 2007, the month prior to the economy's official entry into recession.

"The US dollar ended the day on a soft note as a rally in the Dow going into the close undermined the greenback against the majors," said Michael Woolfolk of the Bank of New York Mellon.

Belkas said the market would be closely tracking Bernanke's speech entitled "Lessons from a Year in Crisis" at a meeting of fellow central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, at 1400 GMT on Thursday.

"No matter what is said, US dollar volatility is likely to pick up quite a bit, but if the speech sticks with a very neutral bias, as we saw in the Federal Open Market Committee?s policy statement last week, the US dollar may continue lower," she said.

"On the other hand, any comments that stoke fears amongst investors have the potential to spark risk aversion, with flight-to-safety benefiting the greenback and Japanese yen," she added.

In late New York trading, the dollar declined to 1.0627 Swiss francs from 1.0660 a day earlier.

The pound fell to 1.6506 dollars from 1.6526. (AFP)http://video2be.com/
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