Dollar higher vs. yen as Bernanke testimony eyed

The dollar was lower against the euro on Wednesday and moved higher against the yen ahead of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony to the U.S. Joint Economic Committee later in the trading day.

During European morning trade, the dollar gained ground against the yen, with USD/JPY up 0.29% to 102.77.

Investors remained cautious ahead of Bernanke’s testimony on the economic outlook and monetary policy, amid speculation over whether the U.S. central bank will begin to scale back its asset purchase program this year.

The Fed was to publish the minutes of its May policy setting meeting later Wednesday.

The dollar briefly touched session lows against the yen earlier after the Bank of Japan left monetary policy unchanged, in a widely expected decision. 

The bank also upgraded its economic outlook, saying growth had started picking up.

Meanwhile, official data showed that Japan posted a trade deficit of JPY0.76 trillion in April, the tenth consecutive monthly deficit. Exports rose 3.8% from a year earlier, while imports were up 9.4%.

The euro was higher against the dollar, with EUR/USD up 0.25% to 1.2936.

The dollar was little changed against the pound, with GBP/USD dipping 0.02% to 1.5147 and slipped lower against the Swiss franc, withUSD/CHF losing 0.15% to trade at 0.9686.

The greenback was broadly higher against its Australian, New Zealand and Canadian counterparts, with AUD/USD down 0.36% to 0.9688,NZD/USD falling 0.34% to 0.8140 and USD/CAD inching up 0.07% to 1.0275.

In Australia, a report by the Westpac Banking Corporation said consumer sentiment fell 7.0% in May, after a 5.10% decline the previous month amid renewed concerns over the economy, following an unpopular budget.

The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, slipped 0.11% to 83.83.