TOKYO (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. dollar moved higher in Asian trading Friday, rising after some currency investors took remarks from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke as hints that U.S. interest rates could be headed higher.
The dollar bought 89.23 yen, up from 88.43 yen in late North American trading Thursday.
The euro bought $1.4723, down from $1.4785 late Thursday, and the British pound fell to $1.6023 from $1.6082.
The dollar's advance followed remarks late Thursday from Bernanke, who said the Fed will reverse course and tighten monetary policy "when the economic outlook improves sufficiently." See full story on Bernanke.
"Ostensibly, the catalyst for USD's [the U.S. dollar's] rebound was a series of comments from Fed Chair Bernanke in a speech on the Fed's balance sheet late yesterday," said Adam Cole, global head of foreign-exchange strategy at RBC Capital Markets.
"Realistically, however, the speech contained little in the way of new information and USD's rally probably has as much to do with short covering after a week of almost uninterrupted losses," Cole said in emailed comments.
On Thursday, the dollar declined against major counterparts after the European Central Bank said the economy in the euro zone is showing signs of stability and inflation expectations are firmly anchored.
Traders deemed ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet's comments about the shared currency supportive of the euro, when they expected him to indicate the euro was too strong, which hurts exports and slows a recovery in manufacturing-driven economies.
The ECB and the Bank of England kept interest rates unchanged Thursday, underlining their reluctance to begin unwinding stimulus measures in the face of a potentially weak and uncertain recovery.
