Investing.com - The pound fell in Asia on Wednesday as markets looked ahead to the U.K.'s formal move to start a split from the European Union later in the day, an historic moment that will see British Prime Minister Theresa May outline the end game on areas from trade to defense cooperation.
GBP/USD fell 0.39% to 1.2399.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose 0.06% to 99.59. USD/JPY changed hands at 111.21, up 0.04% after retail sales data in Japan showed a lower than expected rise of 0.1% from a 0.5% increase expected.
AUD/USD traded up 0.16% to 0.7645.
Overnight, the dollar rose against a basket of major currencies on Tuesday, as investors shifted focus from Trump’s healthcare bill setback to upbeat economic data and bullish comments from Federal Reserve officials.
The greenback bounce back from 4-month lows, buoyed by upbeat consumer confidence data while talk of further rate hikes from Fed officials lifted sentiment.
The Consumer Board Consumer Confidence Index, hit 125.6, far above expectations of a 114 print. Consumer confidence rose to its highest level in nearly 17 years.
Meanwhile, comments from Chicago Fed President Charles Evans and Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan on Monday, added support to the greenback as both suggested that the U.S. central bank would continue on its monetary tightening cycle.
Investors continued to monitor comments from Federal Reserve officials to gauge the Fed’s willingness to hike rates, after the Fed hiked rates by 0.25% on March 15.
Elsewhere, sterling slumped to session lows against the dollar, a day ahead of the start of formal Brexit proceedings.