The dollar traded near a one-month high against the yen after U.S.
lawmakers approved a bill that allows Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson
to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The currency was also near a two-week high against the euro as a rally
in financial stocks prompted traders to increase bets the Federal
Reserve will raise interest rates. The New Zealand dollar fell to a
six-month low after the country's central bank unexpectedly cut rates
for the first time in five years.
``The rescue plan will give the dollar some measure of support,'' said
Masanobu Ishikawa, general manager of foreign exchange at Tokyo Forex
& Ueda Harlow Ltd., Japan's largest currency broker. ``It seems the
U.S. government has avoided the worst-case scenario for Fannie and
Freddie.''
EUR/USD traded within $1.5705- $1.5670.
GBP/USD consolidated within the $1.9955/85 range before fell to session low at $1.9920.
USD/JPY was stuck within Y107.65/00.
Eurozone May current account data is due at 0800GMT along with the flash PMI data for July. Services are seen slipping to 48.0 with manufacturing at 48.7.UK data sees retail sales for June at 0830GMT, which are expected to show a sharp -3.0% m/m decline with the y/y rate at +3.9%.