1. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said on Wednesday the U.S. central bank remains on track to raise interest rates this year, with labor markets expected to steadily improve and turmoil abroad unlikely to throw the U.S. economy off track.
"If the economy evolves as we expect, economic conditions likely would make it appropriate at some point this year to raise the federal funds rate," Yellen said in testimony prepared for the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee, affirming the view of a central bank prepared to gradually raise rates after more than six years at a near-zero level.
2. The dollar turned broadly higher against a basket of other major currencies on Wednesday, after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said the central bank is on track to raise interest rates "before year end."
In prepared remarks released before her testimony to the House Financial Services committee, Fed Chair Yellen said that the Fed is likely to raise rates "at some point this year." She added that the U.S. labor market healthier but "still some slack."
3. The Canadian dollar fell to six-year lows on Wednesday after the Bank of Canada cut its overnight rate and lowered its growth forecast for this year, largely due to a weaker outlook for business investment in the energy sector.
USD/CAD jumped 1.56% to 1.2926, the most since March 2009 from around 1.2787 ahead of the announcement.
4. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras battled to win lawmakers' approval on Wednesday for a bailout deal to keep Greece in the euro, while the country's creditors, pressed by the IMF to provide massive debt relief, struggled to agree a financial lifeline.
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