U.S. Dollar Slides Against Majors

The U.S. dollar continued to be weaker against its major rivals in the Asian session on Thursday, after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen acknowledged financial conditions have recently become less supportive of growth, which could delay raising interest rate.

In her semi-annual testimony before the House Financial Services, Yellen stressed that monetary policy is not on a preset course and reiterated the oft-repeated statement that the path of the federal funds rate will depend on incoming data.

Reflecting the outlook, Yellen said the Fed expects to raise interest rates only gradually, leading to a moderate expansion in economic activity in the coming years.

The U.S. dollar showed mixed trading against its major rivals on Wednesday. While the U.S. dollar fell against the pound and the yen, it rose against the euro. Against the Swiss franc, the greenback held steady.

In the Asian trading, the U.S. dollar fell to a 16-month low of 112.53 against the yen, from yesterday's closing value of 113.32. The greenback is likely to find support around the 111.00 area.

Against the euro and the Swiss franc, the greenback dropped to 2-day lows of 1.1319 and 0.9704 from yesterday's closing quotes of 1.1288 and 0.9732, respectively. If the greenback extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 1.14 against the euro and 0.96 against the franc.

Against the Australian and the New Zealand dollars, the greenback slid to 6-day lows of 0.7153 and 0.6734 from yesterday's closing quotes of 0.7094 and 0.6683, respectively. The greenback may test support near 0.72 against the aussie and 0.68 against the kiwi.

The greenback edged down to 1.4563 against the pound and 1.3883 against the Canadian dollar, from yesterday's closing quotes of 1.4522 and 1.3922, respectively. On the downside, 1.47 against the pound and 1.36 against the loonie are seen as the next support levels for the greenback.

Looking ahead, Swiss CPI data for January is due to be released at 3:15 am ET.

At 6:30 am ET, Bank of England deputy governors Jon Cunliffe and Andrew Bailey will appear at the Lords committee on euro zone financial system in London.

In the New York session, U.S. weekly jobless claims for the week ended February 6 and Canada new housing price index for December are due to be released.

At 10:00 am ET, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen will testify on the Semiannual Monetary Policy Report before the Senate Banking Committee in Washington DC.

Eurozone finance ministers will meet in Brussels later in the day.

The Chinese market continues to remain closed in observance of the week-long Golden Week holidays and the Japanese banks are closed in observance of the National Foundation Day holiday.