• The US Dollar consolidates ahead of a very light day in the economic calendar.
• Markets digest Fed Chairman Powell hawkish remarks.
• The US Dollar Index trades deep into the 106.00 area though, although a small pullback could be at hand. 

The US Dollar Index (DXY) eases slightly on Wednesday as it becomes increasingly clear that markets won the arm wrestling match with the US Federal Reserve (Fed). The recent upward moves in both US bond yields and the US Dollar were enough to twist the arm of US Fed Chairman Jerome Powell. Powell said on Tuesday that recent data shows a lack of further progress in taming inflation, and that it will take longer before having enough confidence that price growth is coming down to target before considering the first rate cut.

On the economic data front, no market-moving data is expected besides some second-tier numbers. More importantly, Fed speakers will take the stage right at the end of the US session, with Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester and Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman to speak.