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The U.S. dollar inched lower against its main trading partners Wednesday, extending losses from Tuesday’s session, after Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen suggested the central bank isn’t ready to raise interest rates just yet.
The dollar traded lower against the euro EURUSD, +0.09% and flat against the yen USDJPY, +0.08% with the euro worth $1.1360 and the buck trading at ¥118.85, compared with $1.1349 and ¥118.75 Tuesday.
The ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, -0.05% a measure of the dollar’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six rival currencies, was 0.3% lower at 94.2260.
The pound GBPUSD, +0.15% and the Australian dollar AUDUSD, -0.39% were especially well-bid versus the buck, with sterling trading at $1.5525, its highest level since late December. It traded at $1.5476 late Tuesday.
March natural gas NGH15, -0.62% settled at $2.894 per million British thermal units, down less than a penny on the contract’s expiration day.
March heating oil HOH5, -0.58% tacked on 7.5 cents, or 3.7%, to $2.104 a gallon. March gasoline RBH5, +0.38% jumped 9.9 cents, or 6.1%, to end at $1.719 a gallon.
Oil futures reclaimed the $50 level on Wednesday, taking their cue from a rally in heating oil and gasoline despite a U.S. government report showing that crude supplies rose for a seventh straight week.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude futures for delivery in April CLJ5, -0.76% settled at $50.99 a barrel, up $1.71, or 3.5%. The April contract had posted declines in each of the last five trading sessions.
Brent crude for April delivery LCOJ5, -0.52% on London’s ICE Futures exchange closed up $2.97, or 5.1%, to $61.63 a barrel.
