Dollar Strengthens After Powell Gives Upbeat Assessment of U.S. Economy

 The dollar strengthened on Wednesday as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell presented a positive assessment of the U.S. economy during his semi-annual congressional testimony on Tuesday.

Powell also noted that the central bank is on track to gradually raise interest rate.

The U.S. Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of currencies, was up 0.13% to 95.05 on Wednesday.

The dollar hit a six-month high against the yen, as the USD/JPY pair rose 0.1% to 112.97 after going as high as 113.08 earlier in the day, its strongest since January 9, following the upbeat remarks from Powell.