Early trade in NY: Dollar edges up after hitting nearly six-week low

The dollar edged up on Wednesday as investors bought the greenback after five consecutive days of selling that put its value against a basket of major currencies at the lowest since December 8. The rebound followed a volatile Tuesday during which sterling rose more than 3 percent for its best showing against the dollar since at least 1998. Currency markets Wednesday reversed most of the previous day's moves.
Sterling retreated 0.85 percent. The dollar index, which measures it against a basket of six major peers, stood at 100.63, up 0.3 percent, after falling to its lowest since December 8 on Tuesday.
A solid reading on the US consumer price index and industrial output figures that outpaced expectations provided minimal fuel for the greenback, which touched session highs against the yen and euro after the data releases but ultimately retraced those gains.
"It didn't rock the boat," said John Doyle, director of markets at Tempus Inc in Washington. "The immediate market impact wasn't there, but that CPI numberit just adds to the Fed's story and an argument that the economy is ready to weather interest rates hikes. If that number had fallen then maybe we would've questioned the Fed's argument for further hikes."
San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams said on Tuesday he saw a "good case" for three rate hikes this year even without fiscal stimulus, but if the economy accelerated, the Fed would need to raise rates faster.