The dollar continues to consolidate yesterday’s gains against the euro. The dollar climbed against the euro on the back of stronger-than-expected manufacturing PMI numbers which pushed EUR/USD to a low of USD1.3633 before rebounding towards the close of the session to USD1.3663. EUR/USD is currently trading at USD1.3642, down 0.14 percent in choppy trading. The pair has recovered from an intraday low of USD1.3628, driven by European Central Bank data which indicated that private sector lending continues to contract in the Eurozone. Markets remain thin with quiet holiday trading carrying into the New Year as a result of a winter storm set to hit the northeast coast of the US. With little in the way of market-moving data set for release, eyes and ears will be on Fed officials scheduled to speak at a conference in Philadelphia this afternoon (GMT), including Charles Plosser, Jeremy Stein and Ben Bernanke. Jeffrey Lacker is scheduled to speak later at a separate event in Baltimore. Of particular interest will be outgoing Fed chairman Ben Bernanke who will handover control of the Federal Reserve to Janet Yellen on 31 January. With the minutes from the Fed’s December meeting being released next week, markets will be looking for an insight into the Fed’s schedule for rolling back its quantitative easing programme. In its December meeting, the Fed moved to taper its monthly asset purchases by USD10bn, leaving its monthly purchases at USD75bn, citing the strengthening US economic outlook. It is anticipated that the Fed will taper in further USD10bn increments, ending the programme before December 2014.