Dollar advances after Bernanke testimony

The dollar was broadly higher against the other major currencies on Thursday as expectations that the Federal Reserve will start to unwind its bond buying later this year remained intact following comments by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke.

During European morning trade, the dollar pushed higher against the euro, with EUR/USD sliding 0.13% to 1.3108.

In his semi-annual testimony to Congress on Wednesday Bernanke said the central bank could scale back its asset purchases by the end of the year if the economy continues to improve, but added that there was no “preset course.”

Bernanke said the economic recovery was continuing at a moderate pace but reiterated that monetary policy will remain accommodative for the foreseeable future.

The dollar was trading close to session highs against the yen, withUSD/JPY climbing 0.60% to 100.15. 

Elsewhere, the dollar was higher against the pound and the Swiss franc, with GBP/USD falling 0.21% to 1.5179 and USD/CHF rising 0.19% to 0.9426. 

The greenback was stronger against its Australian, New Zealand and Canadian counterparts, with AUD/USD dropping 0.82% to 0.9161,NZD/USD down 0.44% to 0.7871 and USD/CAD up 0.23% to 1.0428.

The Aussie came under pressure after the National Australia Bank said Thursday its business confidence index fell to minus 1 in the second quarter, from a reading of 2 in the previous quarter. 

Separately, the Conference Board said its leading index was flat in May, after a 0.3% rise the previous month. 

The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.19% to 82.94. 

The U.S. was to release the weekly government report on initial jobless claims and data on the Philly Fed manufacturing index later in the trading day.