Euro advances as Bernanke speech in Wyoming awaits

The value of the shared currency of the European Union pushed toward its highest level in nearly two months against the U.S. dollar on Friday in anticipation of U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's speech at the symposium in Wyoming, according to Bloomberg.

Highly anticipated by investors, traders, analysts and many others, the speech is prone to close scrutiny for indications about how the institution he leads will spur growth in the world's largest economy, which has endured hiccups as of late.

"The market is getting positioned for a dovish Bernanke, so the dollar is under pressure," head of European currency strategy Geoff Kendrick with Nomura International Plc in London told the news source. "There's a lot of uncertainty about what he might say, so the market will be a bit choppy until then. If he's not dovish at all, then the dollar will rally."

The euro was barreling toward gains of 0.4 percent this week as it headed toward its top value since July 4 against the world's reserve currency.

Reuters reports European shares and oil also were driving higher in value as the Fed chief's speech neared.