The dollar edged higher against major rivals during Asian trading hours Wednesday, as optimism for progress in Europe’s debt problems appeared to dim ahead of key upcoming events.

The ICE dollar index DXY, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six other major currencies, traded at 81.418, up from 81.334 in late North American trading Tuesday.

Similarly, the WSJ dollar index BUXX , which uses a slightly larger comparison basket, rose to 70.94 from 70.87.

The dollar had weakened Tuesday after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi cancelled his scheduled Saturday speech at the Federal Reserve’s Jackson Hole meeting, citing his workload.

The move sparked speculation that Draghi is getting set to announce a game-changing move at the European Central Bank meeting next week.

However, Mitul Kotecha, head of global currency strategy at Credit Agricole, said Wednesday that he’s “loathe to get on the bullish euro bandwagon,” given that there’s so much event risk in the weeks ahead.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is still due to speak on Friday at the forum, and investors are waiting for hints as to future monetary policy from the Fed.

The euro EURUSD pulled back to $1.2553, down from $1.2568 in late trading on Tuesday.

The British pound GBPUSD also edged lower, hitting $1.5813, slipping from $1.5829.

Against the Japanese yen USDJPY, the dollar traded broadly flat, buying ¥78.59 compared to ¥78.54 late Tuesday. The Australian dollar AUDUSD fell to $1.0361 from $1.0384.

Marketwatch

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