“The dollar declined against the euro, snapping a three-day gain, ahead of a speech by a Federal Reserve official who may reiterate the case to maintain monetary stimulus.
The Dollar Index fell before Fed Reserve Vice Chairman Janet Yellen speaks in Washington today. The yen trimmed gains after Haruhiko Kuroda, a potential candidate to head the Bank of Japan, said additional monetary easing can be justified for 2013. The BOJ holds a policy meeting this week. The Australian dollar weakened after data showed home-loan approvals slid.
“Yellen is one of the doves in the Fed committee,” said Alvin Pontoh, Asia-Pacific strategist at TD Securities Inc. in Singapore. “If she says anything, it’s likely to be dovish and maybe because of that, we’re seeing a bit of euro strength against the dollar.”
The dollar weakened 0.1 percent to $1.3379 per euro at 7:29 a.m. in London, after gaining 1.6 percent in the past three sessions. The greenback slid 0.1 percent to 92.55 yen from the end of last week.
The Dollar Index, which Intercontinental Exchange Inc. uses to track the greenback against the currencies of six major U.S. trade partners, slid 0.1 percent to 80.172. The Japanese currency traded at 123.83 per euro, after climbing 2.6 percent in the past three sessions to 123.87.
The Federal Open Market Committee last month linked its policy to economic indicators for the first time, saying it will keep rates low as long as the unemployment rate is above 6.5 percent and the outlook for inflation is no more than 2.5 percent.
