• The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index jumped 9.5 points to 125.6 this month, the highest reading since December 2000. Consumers' assessment of both current business and labor market conditions improved sharply in March.
U.S. consumer confidence surged to a more than 16-year high in March amid growing labor market optimism while the goods trade deficit narrowed sharply in February, indicating the economy was regaining momentum after faltering at the start of the year.
• The dollar pulled away from 4-1/2-month lows against a currency basket on Wednesday as solid data backed expectations for more U.S. interest rate hikes this year, while sterling was knocked by concern about Britain's impending exit from the European Union.
The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against six major rival currencies, edged up 0.1 percent to 99.754, It moved off a low of 98.858 plumbed earlier this week, its weakest level since Nov. 11, in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump's failed healthcare reform bill.
Sterling wallowed at one-week lows, down 0.4 percent at $1.2403 as investors braced for British Prime Minister Theresa May's move later on Wednesday to formally file paperwork to leave the European Union.
The euro was steady on the day at $1.0814.
• U.S. Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer also gave the dollar a lift as he said in a television interview that two more increases to U.S. overnight interest rates this year seemed "about right."
• The move came as Kansas City Federal Reserve President Esther George said she needs more details on the Trump administration's fiscal proposals.
• The impact of the new Trump administration's effect on the economy remains too uncertain for the U.S. Federal Reserve to react or begin recasting its outlook, Fed Governor Jerome Powell said on Tuesday.
Asked about the collapse of the healthcare bill last week, Powell said that uncertainty about "the scope, the timing and the contents" of President Donald Trump's policies were making it difficult for Fed policymakers to assess what they might mean.
• Oil prices rose as much as 2 percent on Tuesday after a severe disruption to Libyan oil supplies and as officials suggested OPEC and other producing countries could extend an output-cuts deal to the end of the year.
Brent crude LCOc1 rose 58 cents, or 1.14 percent to settle at $51.33 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 ended the session 64 cents, or 1.34 percent higher at$48.37 a barrel. Both benchmarks were up about 2 percent at their session highs.
"The closure of two Libyan oil fields ... is supporting the market today with the timing of a potential restart uncertain after militias in western Libya shut key pipelines," Tim Evans, an energy futures specialist at Citi Futures said in a note.
Reference: Reuters
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