The dollar index rallied to its strongest level since Jan. 18 on Wednesday, as new Federal Reserve head Jerome Powell gave his first congressional testimony. Powell said the U.S. economy was strong with little risk of recession at the moment and modest risk in the financial sector. The new chairman dodged the question of whether the central bank would raise interest rates more than the projected three times, however saying that his outlook for the economy had strengthened. He also spoke out in favor of the effectiveness of quantitative easing in response to a question about a paper by Wall Street analysts criticizing the lose monetary policy approach. The ICE U.S. Dollar Index touched an session high of 90.50, and was last up 0.6% at 90.370, reflecting strength across the board. The buck’s major rival, the euro , slipped 0.6% to $1.2241, while the British pound bought $1.3880, down 0.6%. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar rose 0.6% to ￥107.53.
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