US$ eases as rate hike may not be imminent

London

THE US dollar fell against a basket of currencies on Wednesday after Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen suggested the central bank would not rush into raising US interest rates.

The drop in the dollar mirrored a pullback in US front-end yields from recent highs, as Ms Yellen's testimony to Congress disappointed investors who had positioned themselves for a clearer signal on when rates would rise. Ms Yellen declined to provide much insight into when the word "patient" might be dropped from the Fed's monetary policy statement. Instead, she emphasised that dropping the word would not necessarily mean rate hikes were imminent.