Dollar at record lows ahead of Bernanke speech

The dollar has plummeted to a 16-month low against the euro as markets expect the Federal Reserve to signal it will hold interest rates.

The greenback fell for the seventh consecutive day in the longest rout since March 2009 after speculation on tomorrow's briefing by Fed chairman Ben Bernanke. Investors expect the Fed to maintain its ultra-loose policy when its bond-buying program expires in June, Bloomberg reports. While the dollar dropped a further 0.4% in New York's early session, with the euro trading at $1.4714, the S&P 500 was down 0.11% in early trading to 1,346. Elsewhere, the FTSE 100 is bouncing back from morning losses to trade at 6,079 from a day peak at 6,047, amid mixed Q1 results from some of the London...