2023.05.3121:12:00UTC+00Dollar Retreats After Rising To 2-month High

The U.S. dollar pared gains after rising to a more than 2-month high on Wednesday as traders reacted to comments from a couple of Federal Reserve officials about "skipping" interest rate hikes at the central bank's next meeting in June.

Traders also reacted to the developments on the debt ceiling bill front, and the data showing an unexpected increase in U.S. job openings in the month of April.

Data released by the Labor Department this morning showed job openings rose to 10.1 million in April from a revised 9.7 million in March. Economists had expected job openings to decrease to 9.4 million.

Continued strength in the labor market may raise concerns about the outlook for interest rates ahead of Friday's closely watched monthly jobs report.

The dollar index, which climbed to 104.70, dropped to 104.23, up just marginally from the previous close.

Against the Euro, the dollar firmed to 1.0691 from 1.0735, and weakened to 1.2444 against Pound Sterling from 1.2413.

Against the Japanese currency, the dollar dropped to 139.35 after firming to 140.38. Against the Aussie, the dollar was up at 0.6504, edging up from 0.6516.