Forex - Dollar falls on yen warning, awaits Bernanke comments

The dollar fell against most of its peers in U.S. trading on Monday after Japan's Economy Minister warned further depreciation of the Japanese currency could hurt the economy.

Fading hopes that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will hint at when easing tools will scale back also weakened the greenback. 

Stimulus measures, such as the Fed's monthly USD85 billion bond-buying program, weaken the greenback by flooding the economy full of liquidity to keep interest rates low and encourage investing and hiring.

In U.S. trading on Monday, EUR/USD was up 0.43% at 1.2890.

The dollar fell on Monday after Japanese Economy Minister Akira Amari said that further depreciation of the yen could harm Japan's economy.

The Bank of Japan has enacted massive monetary easing measures to steer the country away from deflationary decline and more towards growth, with the yen plunging to lows against the dollar not seen since 2008.

Amari's comments sparked demand for the yen that came at the dollar's expense and brought up the euro and other currencies with it in a quiet session with little in the way of economic indicators or other steering currents.

The dollar, meanwhile, saw some support in wake of Friday's consumer sentiment data.
The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's preliminary consumer sentiment index rose to 83.7 in May from 76.4 in April, blowing past expectations for a rise to 78.0. 

The numbers came after Federal Reserve officials suggested last week that the U.S. central bank may begin to unwind stimulus programs this summer and possibly end such policies by year end.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is due to appear in Congress on Wednesday, though Monday trading, hopes began to taper off that the country's top central banker will hint at a need to wind down stimulus programs.

The greenback, meanwhile, was down against the pound, with GBP/USDtrading up 0.64% at 1.5265.

The dollar was down against the yen, with USD/JPY down 0.82% at 102.35, and down against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF trading down 0.62% at 0.9664.

The dollar was down against its cousins in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with USD/CAD down 0.43% at 1.0232, AUD/USD up 0.83% at 0.9817 and NZD/USD trading up 1.28% at 0.8172.

The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.53% at 83.89.