Investing.com - The broadly stronger dollar rose to two-week highs against the euro on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart indicated support for a September interest rate hike.
EUR/USD slid 0.13% to 1.0866, the lowest level since July 21.
The dollar strengthened across the board after Lockhart said Tuesday it would take a “significant deterioration in the economic picture” for him to not support a rate hike in September.
The comments came in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.
Investors were turning their attention to the upcoming U.S. jobs report for July, which could reinforce expectations for higher interest rates.
The latest government nonfarm payrolls report, which was due to be released on Friday, was expected by economists to show that the economy added 215,000 new jobs last month.
Monthly jobs gains above 200,000 are seen by economists as consistent with strong employment growth.
The dollar was firm against the yen, with USD/JPY at 124.39.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.18% to an almost three-week high of 98.23.