Dollar strengthens

TOKYO: The dollar pulled away from 4-1/2-month lows against a currency basket on Wednesday after solid data backed expectations for more U.S. interest rate hikes this year, while sterling was knocked by Britain triggering its exit from the European Union.

The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against six major rival currencies, edged up slightly to 99.751. It managed to crawl off a low of 98.858 plumbed earlier this week, its weakest level since Nov. 11, in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump´s failed healthcare reform bill.

"The ´Trump trade´ is still alive after all. It was too early to declare it dead with the failure of the healthcare reform bill to pass," said Ayako Sera, senior market economist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust.

"As long as the U.S. economy shows signs of strength, the dollar will remain strong, but since an overly strong dollar also has some downside for the U.S. economy, there will be dollar corrections," she said.

The healthcare failure reform raised doubts that Trump would be able to carry out his fiscal stimulus and tax cuts, and pressured the dollar to 110.11 yen, its lowest since Nov. 18. It last stood at 111.22 yen, up slightly on the day.