Dollar supported by oil, Bernanke speech
The dollar was stable as oil prices slumped, before recovering, and as Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke signalled no surprises on the US interest rate front.
The euro dipped to 1.2712 dollars at 2100 GMT from 1.2729 late in New York on Tuesday.
The dollar was little changed at 117.88 Japanese yen, from 117.91 yen late on Tuesday.
On the economic scene, the Institute of Supply Management's snapshot of the US services sector dropped 4.1 points to 52.9 percent in September from the previous month, well below forecasts for a smaller decline to 56.0.
But Marc Ostwald at Insinger de Beaufort said a modest pick-up in the report's employment reading "bodes well" for Friday's key US non-farm payrolls data.
Much of the ISM fall was the result of drops in the prices components that reflected lower raw materials prices, he noted.
Rises in new orders and order backlogs meanwhile "suggest that the lower level of energy and raw material prices is already providing a boost to the services side of the economy", he said.
The dollar was helped for much of the day as crude futures dived below 58 dollars a barrel before rebounding on an upsurge in violence in Nigeria.
Lower energy prices have bolstered the Fed's case that US inflation, while stubbornly high now, should moderate over time.
After a speech Wednesday, Bernanke said he believed that "in the long run we'll have a healthy growing economy" despite concerns now about inflation and a housing market slump.
Bernanke's remarks contributed to another record-breaking close for blue-chip shares on Wall Street, lending support in turn to the greenback.
Elsewhere, the pound initially firmed on talk that the Bank of England could spring another surprise rate rise on Thursday.
At Thomson IFR Markets, Robert Howard said talk that a Washington-based think-tank believed that the BoE would raise rates had supported the pound.
But the consensus view remained that the British bank's next move was most likely to be in November, erasing the pound's gains against the dollar.
The European Central Bank (ECB) was also due to announce its latest rate decision on Thursday and was fully expected to raise rates by a further quarter point to 3.25 percent.
Attention would therefore center on ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet's accompanying press conference to see whether he still seems inclined to raise rates further despite lower inflationary pressures.
The pound bought 1.8862 dollars at 2100 GMT, down from 1.8878 late Tuesday.
The dollar stood at 1.2486 Swiss francs, from 1.2452.
AFP
