The dollar was firmer on Wednesday leading into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's appearance before Congress, where he is expected to strike a hawkish tone, while sterling slipped after hotter-than-expected British inflation data.

The annual pace of British consumer price gains was steady at 8.7% in May, against hopes it had cooled since April. Sterling briefly rose as far as 0.3% against the dollar to $1.2803 before reversing its gains.

At 0845 GMT, sterling was 0.34% down against the dollar at $1.2723.

The dollar rose 0.5% against the Japanese yen to 142.15 per dollar after Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said on Wednesday the central bank would maintain its ultra-loose monetary policy.

The rally against the yen pushed the U.S. dollar index , which measures the currency against six major peers, up slightly to 102.60. The euro was up 0.1% at $1.0926.

The Aussie had taken a further beating thanks to Tuesday's less-hawkish-than-expected central bank minutes following this month's rate hike. It was last down 0.37% at$0.676.

Source : Reuters