Dollar falls as US rate hike fever wanes

The dollar retreated against the euro and higher yielding currencies on Monday as recent comments from Federal Reserve officials and disappointing US data tempered aggressive rate hike expectations.
After the dollar's run to a 4-1/2 month high on the euro last week, caution set in ahead of appearances by Fed chairman Alan Greenspan on Tuesday and Wednesday, with the market hoping for hints on when US rates might go up.
Markets had taken surprisingly strong inflation and jobs reports earlier this month to mean US borrowing costs should head higher, but weaker than expected consumer confidence and industrial production reports cooled some enthusiasm on Friday.
"The dollar continues to fall against the euro because people are now looking to see whether they priced in too much on the rate hike side and they are looking a bit nervously at what Greenspan will say," said Mansoor Mohiuddin, chief currency strategist at UBS.
"If Greenspan gives a relatively dovish speech then people who have been expecting a rate hike will start taking a little bit more of that off the table and that will cause the dollar to give up some more of its gains."
By 1130 GMT, the dollar traded down half a percent at $1.2056 per euro, nearly two cents weaker than last week's 4-1/2 month high around $1.1863.
It fell against most other major European currencies, down 0.8 percent against the Swiss franc and weakened one percent against sterling before stabilising.
The greenback also weakened nearly one percent against the higher yielding Australian dollar and more than one percent on the New Zealand dollar at one point but traded fairly flat on the day against the yen at 107.74.
The euro rose one percent against the yen before trimming its gains back a touch to 129.98 yen, helped by its rally against the dollar, while the yen also took a hit from a report that authorities had found additional bad loans at Japanese bank UFJ Holdings.
Friday's University of Michigan April consumer sentiment index came in below forecasts while data also showed US industrial production fell in March.
Richmond Federal Reserve Bank President Alfred Broaddus said conditions were not yet ripe for an interest rate hike, also eroding dollar support.
Fed Governor Ben Bernanke said on Thursday that idle resources, such as untapped labour and production capacity, would help to keep inflation in check over "the next couple of years".