Daily Currency Report

Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke indicated, in a speech, that the Fed may hold rates in order to assess the balance of risks to the economy which helped send the dollar into freefall versus most of the majors.

GBP
The sterling traded near the previous days' seven-month high versus the dollar, capitalising on broad dollar weakness after the Fed chairman signalled a possible pause in US rate rises. The pound has been fairly steady since.

USD
The dollar was weaker against the major currencies following the Fed chairman's testimony to Congress. The dollar weakened to new seven-month lows versus the euro after his comments.

EUR
Strong eurozone data and upbeat comments from ECB policy makers have supported the case for steady rate hikes in the eurozone. ECB council member Nicholas Garganas said that the bank will raise rates faster as economic growth and higher oil prices threaten to push up inflation.

JPY
Initially the JPY spiked towards a three-month high versus the dollar, with traders buying the JPY after the Chinese central bank raised interest rates.