The dollar held steady near an eight-day high on Thursday, after U.S. inflation data and other economic indicators slightly reinforced expectations of a tightening of monetary policy by the Federal Reserve, ahead of the start of the Jackson Hole symposium for central bankers later in the day.
Markets are also looking to a speech and press conference by Ryozo Himeno, one of the Bank of Japan's deputy governors, on Thursday, for clues about the likelihood of an interest rate hike in September, and the size and scope of any further monetary tightening thereafter.
Data released Wednesday by the U.S. Commerce Department showed that the personal consumption expenditures price index rose 3.7% in the 12 months through July, unchanged from June, but slightly above the 3.6% forecast by economists polled by Reuters.
On a monthly basis, the personal consumption expenditures index rose 0.2%, exceeding expectations of a 0.1% increase, after falling 0.1% in June.
The dollar index, which measures the performance of the US currency against a basket of major currencies including the yen and the euro, rose 0.21% to 99.13, its highest level since August 19.
Against the yen, the dollar settled at 159.23 yen, as the Japanese currency gave up most of the gains it had made after authorities intervened to support it, but it is still far from its lowest level in several decades at around 164 yen to the dollar.
