(Updates with closing values; wording changes)
By Karen Brettell
NEW YORK, March 8 (Reuters) –
The dollar was flat on Wednesday, but below three-month highs hit at the start of the session, after the Federal Reserve chairman offered no big surprises during his second day of testimony before Congress and as the investors were waiting for the jobs data.
* Jerome Powell reaffirmed his message of higher and potentially faster interest rate hikes, but stressed that the debate is still open and that the decision will depend on data to be released before the bank’s next monetary policy meeting centre, which will be held in two weeks.
* “I don’t think Powell told us anything that we didn’t already know. I think it just shows the sensitivity of the market and the uncertainty as to where the fed funds rate will be on the higher,” said Marc Chandler, chief market strategist at Bannockburn Global Forex in New York.
* Investors are now awaiting the release of February jobs data on Friday, seeking confirmation that continued strong job growth is supporting further rate hikes. The dollar has soared since it was reported on Feb. 3 that employers added 517,000 jobs in January.
* The dollar index was trading flat at 105.63 units, after hitting 105.88 units, its highest level since Dec. 1. The index improved from a nine-month low of 100.80 reached on February 1, but remains well below the 20-year high of 114.78 reached on September 28.
* “The dollar has been down sharply for four months and I think right now it’s still corrective in nature, which means I don’t think we’ll get back to the September and October highs,” Chandler said.
* The ADP National Jobs Report released on Wednesday showed private employment rose by 242,000 jobs last month.
* The euro was trading nearly unchanged at $1.0547. It had previously fallen back to $1.0524, just above this year’s low of $1.04820 hit on January 6.
* The dollar rose 0.09% to 137.28 yen after touching 137.90, its highest since Dec. 15.
* The pound rose 0.09% to $1.1840, then fell to $1.18105, its lowest since November 21.
(Edited in Spanish by Carlos Serrano and Javier Leira)