Forex - Dollar regains strength as investor fret European murkiness

Forexpros - The dollar on Monday reversed hefty losses sustained against most major global currencies after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said last week that monetary authorities remain poised to stimulate the economy if it doesn't show signs of improvement soon.

Investors snapped up nicely priced greenback positions ahead of European Central Bank Mario Draghi's speech due later Monday, eager to hear clues as to how close the monetary authority is coming to buying sovereign debt in troubled European countries.

In Asian trading on Monday, EUR/USD was down 0.10% at 1.2564.

Bernanke said in a Friday speech at the Fed's annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, that the Fed remains ready to intervene with stimulus measures though the speech made no mention for more specific plans.

Monetary stimulus tools tend to weaken the dollar by design, pushing down interest rates and sending stock prices rising as well.

The dollar quickly gained strength on concerns that while the European Central Bank may be closer to buying sovereign debt from countries like Spain and Italy to lower borrowing costs there, details remain to be seen.

Spain is widely expected to be ready to ask for a bailout, and markets are eager to see how such a move would fall in line with plans to buy Spanish and other sovereign bonds.

German policymakers have expressed a lack of support for the ECB bond-buing plan, which fueled dollar on Monday as well.

Meanwhile in Australia, retail sales fell unexpectedly in July.

In a report, Australian Bureau of Statistics said that Australian retail sales contracted 0.8% in July following a 1.2% increase in June, whose figure was revised up from 1.0%.

Analysts had expected Australian retail sales to rise 0.2% last month.

The greenback, meanwhile, was up against the pound, with GBP/USDtrading down 0.06% at 1.5857.

The dollar was down against the yen, with USD/JPY trading down 0.17% at 78.25, and up against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF trading up 0.09% at 0.9559.

The dollar was up against its cousins in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with USD/CAD up 0.09% at 0.9871, AUD/USD down 0.76% at 1.0247 and NZD/USD down 0.52% at 0.7994.

The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.12% at 81.30.

Later Monday in the eurozone, ECB President Mario Draghi is scheduled to testify before the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, in Brussels. 

Spain and Italy, meanwhile, will release official data on manufacturing activity.

U.S. markets will be closed for the Labor Day holiday.