The dollar remains on the backfoot and near its all-time low against the euro on mounting expectations that the US Federal Reserve may opt to cut borrowing costs by half a percentage point next week. Most market participants had already priced in a quarter point reduction in the benchmark Fed funds rate to 5.00 pct to rein in the effects of the credit crunch on the wider US economy, but last week's disappointing jobs report for August raised the prospect that the Fed may be more aggressive on Sept 18. As a result, all eyes will be on US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke when he addresses an audience in Berlin, especially after Frederic Mishkin, one of the Fed rate-setters, warned of downside risks from the market uncertainty."As far as today is concerned, the main event is Bernanke's speech at the Bundesbank on global imbalances at 4 pm," said David Corbell, an analyst at Thomson IFR Markets. The Fed's chairman Ben Bernanke has already indicated that the central bank is ready to cut rates to protect the national economy from the ill effects of a global credit crunch. His comments a couple of weeks ago, which were made before the news of the 4,000 fall in non-farm payrolls in August, cemented market expectations that the FOMC will cut its rates a quarter point. The effects of the credit crunch and the consequent liquidity crisis are not confined to the US though and currency players will also be listening to comments from European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet with interest.