The U.S. dollar eased across the board on Wednesday after Singapore effectively revalued its currency and as upbeat earnings from technology bellwether Intel Corp (INTC.O) boosted appetite for riskier currencies.
The revaluation was viewed as a mark of confidence in economic recovery and boosted higher-yielding currencies seen most likely to benefit from faster global growth.
Commodity currencies such as the Australian and Canadian dollars gained against the U.S. unit, while the low-yielding yen also softened.
The euro edged up against the dollar, still benefiting from a financial aid mechanism for Greece announced at the weekend, but its gains were capped by longer-term concerns about the debt-stricken country and details of the plan's implementation.
German/Greek government bond yield spreads widened to their highest since the euro zone agreement.
"The aid plan put default risks off the table for now, but the euro's upside is limited as the package may just be delaying a resolution to Greece's problems," said Lutz Karpowitz, senior currency strategist at Commerzbank.
By 6:20 a.m. ET, the euro was up 0.2 percent to $1.3643, but could not rise beyond Monday's high of $1.3692.
Options with strike prices of $1.3640 and $1.3600 were set to expire later on Wednesday, traders said, limiting the euro's rise.
A German economist plans to launch a legal challenge at the Constitutional Court against the euro zone aid package for Greece agreed by finance ministers at the weekend, a German newspaper reported.
The dollar fell 0.2 percent on the index measuring its performance against six other major currencies .DXY to 80.31. It breached its 55-day moving average at 80.49 and was nearing a one-month low set on Monday.
SINGAPORE TIGHTENING
Singapore's central bank re-centered its trade-weighted band to the prevailing exchange rate level, which was in the upper half of the previous band.
Markets took the move as a signal of the central bank's confidence in the economic outlook, as it also shifted policy to modest and gradual currency appreciation. The move also revived speculation about when China might revalue the yuan.
"It reaffirms a move of Asian central banks shifting to monetary tightening while the major economies stand pat," said Lee Hardman, currency economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.
"It also instills market confidence over global recovery prospects."
Improved risk sentiment boosted the Australian dollar through a psychological barrier at $0.9300, but failed to top a five-month peak just below $0.9400 set on Monday.
The Canadian dollar rose back above parity against the U.S. dollar, nearing its highest since July 2008.
The yen also softened. The dollar was up 0.2 percent at 93.41 yen, while the euro rose 0.5 percent to 127.60 yen above its 100-day moving average at 127.03 yen. Resistance was seen at a previous high of 128.00 yen.
The market awaited U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's congressional testimony on the economic outlook at 10 a.m. ET.
Most market players expected he would not deviate from language stating interest rates would remain low for an extended period, especially if U.S. consumer price inflation due out at 8:30 a.m. ET comes in at a meager 0.1 percent increase, as expected.
Several Fed officials are also due to speak and the market will also be watching for retail sales data due at 8 a.m. ET.
