The US Dollar was moving away from a recently struck 2-month trough versus the Japanese Yen as FX traders await today’s confirmation hearing for Jerome Powell, the next head of the US Federal Reserve Bank. Analysts don’t believe that Powell is very likely to rock the boats as he is expectedly largely to continue along the same path that Janet Yellen has laid out. Nonetheless, any comments or answers to questions which markets might take as overly hawkish or dovish could waylay the Dollar in the short term and cause some volatility.

As reported at 11:00 am (GMT) in London, the USD/JPY was trading at 111.320 Yen, up 0.23%; the pair earlier hit a session trough of 110.900 Yen. The EUR/USD was $1.1885, down 0.11%, off the session low of $1.18730.

Tax Reform Weighs on Greenback

The US Dollar is also likely to see some undue stress as the discussion turns to the passing of Donald Trump’s tax reform legislation. Thus far, two Republican Senators have said they will vote against its passage, with a number of others expressing their serious concerns. As a result, passage of the legislation is far from a given and weighing on the greenback.