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The US dollar was broadly stronger today, with the main driver being Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s less-than-dovish comments yesterday at a testimony in front of the US Senate Banking Committee.Yellen’s more positive outlook on the US economy opened the door for a shift in the rate hike timeline. Based on her comments, rates could rise sooner than expected if employment in the US improved.“If the labor market continues to improve more quickly than anticipated by the Fed, then increases in the federal-funds rate target likely would occur sooner and be more rapid than currently envisioned”, Yellen told the Senate Banking Committee.The dollar extended gains versus the yen to peak at 101.78, hitting a new 1-week high. The euro fell further against the dollar to reach a fresh 1-month low of 1.3525.Sterling dipped sharply against the dollar to 1.7111 before steadying at 1.7130 following some mixed UK employment data today. The unemployment rate fell to a 5-year low of 6.5% in the three-months to May and the claimant count change showed more jobs were added.However, the markets chose to focus on the wage growth numbers which were soft and showed average weekly earnings only increased 0.3% which was below expectations of a 0.5% increase and down from a prior 0.8%.Looking ahead to the US session, Fed Chair Yellen will provide a second day of testimony (this time to House Committee). There will also be data on US industrial production. Meanwhile US PPI data today showed an increase in wholesale in June by 0.4 % versus a 0.2% drop in May.
