Will next United States rate hike happen in March or June?

In often contentious, marathon testimony lasting almost four hours, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen defended the Fed’s role in helping the USA economy to rebuild after the worst crisis since the Great Depression, pointing to the solid job creation and growing incomes.

On Wednesday, it was surprisingly strong reports on Consumer Price inflation and retail sales that raised rate hike expectations further.

The euro edged up 0.2 percent at $1.0616, recovering from a five-week trough of $1.052 touched on Wednesday.

– Trader positioning is flipping against the US Dollar – which may be a contrarian signal for more greenback bullishness in the coming days. The Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.2 percent to 3,212.99 and India’s Sensex lost 0.7 percent to 28,155.56. I expect that measure to also show inflation over the year rising by 2% or more.

Europe’s index of leading 300 stocks rose almost one per cent earlier to its highest since December 2015, buoyed by bank earnings, but had given up some gains to trade up 0.5 per cent. Manufacturing updates for the NY region also topped estimates. Minutes of the Fed’s early February meeting could give a better read of the odds it will happen.

The dollar hovered near a two-week high versus the yen, last standing at 114.11 yen.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 20 points, or 0.1 percent, to 20,525.

Reports on homebuilder confidence and business inventories are also scheduled to be released shortly after the start of trading.

Expectations of a March move have driven an index of global shares to a record high.

The Nasdaq gained 36.87 (+0.64 percent) to close at 5,819.44 while the S&P 500 finished at 2,349.25, up 11.67 (+0.50 percent) from its open. Benchmarks in New Zealand and Taiwan rose, while Southeast Asian markets mostly declined. The FTSE 350 banking index was the top sectoral gainer, up 1.5 percent. Brent crude, used to price worldwide oils, lost 30 cents to $55.67 in London. The stock erased its gains in the previous session.

Information for this article was contributed by Binyamin Appelbaum of The New York Times, Martin Crutsinger of The Associated Press and Craig Torres, Christopher Condon and Jeanna Smialek of Bloomberg News.