NEW YORK, June 21 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. dollar dropped on Wednesday as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell failed to meet investors' hawkish expectations at a hearing in the U.S. Congress.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, decreased 0.44 percent to 102.0816 in late trading.
U.S. inflation pressures continue to run high, and the process of getting inflation back down to 2 percent has a long way to go, Powell said on Wednesday in remarks at a semiannual hearing organized by the House Financial Services Committee.
The Fed chair stays hawkish, but it is not sufficient to provide additional support to the U.S. currency, said Vladimir Zernov, analyst with market information supplier FX Empire.
By sticking to the balanced, data-dependent language deployed in last week's press conference, Powell left investors betting that the ongoing deceleration in growth and inflation will translate into one -- not two -- rate hikes by year end, said a report by Reuters quoting Karl Schamotta, chief market strategist at business payments company Corpay.
The probability of another hike of 25 basis points by the Fed in July decreased to less than 70 percent from near 80 percent in early afternoon, according to data from the CME FedWatch Tool on Wednesday.
In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.0984 U.S. dollars from 1.0917 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound rose to 1.2773 U.S. dollars from 1.2759 dollars in the previous session.
The U.S. dollar bought 141.8060 Japanese yen, higher than 141.3700 Japanese yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar was down to 0.8930 Swiss franc from 0.8978 Swiss franc, and it decreased to 1.3161 Canadian dollars from 1.3229 Canadian dollars. The U.S. dollar was down to 10.6505 Swedish Krona from 10.8024 Swedish Krona. ■
