US dollar rises after Yellen says rate hike “appropriate in the coming months”

The US dollar jumped and reached fresh session highs versus most competitors after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said it will be appropriate to raise rates in the coming months, if economy improves as she expects.

“It’s appropriate for the Fed to gradually and cautiously increase our overnight interest rate over time,” Yellen says, “and probably in the coming months such a move would be appropriate”.

EUR/USD fell to a fresh 2 month low of 1.1120, while AUD/USD and NZD/USD dropped to fresh daily lows of 0.7179 and 0.6694 respectively.

USD/JPY climbed to a daily peak of 110.15 in recent dealings and USD/CHF approached to Monday’s highs in the 0.9935 area. GBP/USD was almost unaffected by Yellen, trading marginally lower at 1.4620.