Dollar strengthens

TOKYO: The dollar hovered near an 11-month high against a basket of currencies on Thursday, supported by a rise in U.S. yields, while the pound was at its lowest level since November 2017 ahead of a Bank of England monetary policy decision.

The dollar index against a group of six major currencies stood at 95.243 after rising to 95.299 overnight, its highest since mid-July 2017.Buoying the greenback, long-term Treasury yields bounced back from three-week lows, as risk aversion felt earlier in the week amid United States-China trade tensions eased for now.

Treasury yields also were propped up by remarks from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who said on Wednesday that the U.S. central bank should continue with a gradual pace of rate increases.

"Powell´s remarks were not particularly ground breaking but it appears to have helped the dollar just as U.S. equities are recovering after being oversold on earlier risk aversion," said Shusuke Yamada, currency and equity strategist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Tokyo.

The dollar rose 0.2 percent to 110.585 yen, moving further ahead from a one-week low of 109.55 struck on Tuesday. The euro was a shade lower at $1.1567 having a lost 0.15 percent the previous day.