The dollar stayed little changed ahead of some key US data today, having been bolstered somewhat after US Fed chief Ben Bernanke signalled that interest rates in the country will have to rise further yesterday Bernanke indicated in his maiden testimony to Congress yesterday that upcoming data will be crucial for the prospect of interest rates -- thus giving added importance to the indicators due out today With the US economy currently operating at a relatively high level of capacity, the risk is that the rising demand will push inflation higher, said Steve Pearson at HBOS "Thus further tightening of monetary policy would be needed," he said US data releases today include jobless claims where further falls are predicted and the Philadelphia Fed PMI where a bounce in the headline index is expected As the euro is already near its 2006 low against the dollar, strong US data may push it down further. Also due out today are data on housing starts and permits "Any significant weakness in the housing data would be dollar negative suggestive of a slowing economy, thus reducing the amount of monetary tightening required from the Fed," said Pearson Elsewhere, the pound continued to be supported by a less-than-dovish round of projections from the Bank of England yesterday which suggested that the UK may still be some way from an interest rate reduction. UK retail sales data for January are due out at 9.30 GMT, and if stronger than expected, could push the pound higher Analysts polled by AFX News expect no change from the previous month but a 3.1 pct annual increase