Greenback drops on Bernanke comments

Story link: Greenback drops on Bernanke comments

The US dollar lost ground to both the euro and sterling again on Wednesday after comments from the chairman of the Federal Reserve on Tuesday that seemed to hint at US interest rates being left as they are for some time to come.

In midday trade in New York the euro was 0.1 percent higher to $1.3764 versus the greenback, while sterling had added 0.3 percent to $2.0334.

The euro was not disturbed by an argument between French president Nicolas Sarksozy and European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet over how much influence European governments should have over the ECB regarding currency policies.

The yen was weaker in New York trade as risk-aversion began to fade and investors began to sell the Japanese currency once again.

By midday in New York, the US dollar had added 0.1 percent to ¥121.86 versus the yen, while the euro was 0.3 percent higher to ¥167.84 in relation to the Japanese currency.

The Australian dollar added 0.5 percent to ¥105.29 and the New Zealand dollar was up 0.7 percent on the yen, to ¥94.94.