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The Dollar gained considerably ground in yesterday’s trading, whilst the price of Crude Oil plummeted. The question today is can this pattern be extended into end-of-week trading? The answer to this question will be determined by a number of factors, such as the U.S. Unemployment Claims release at 13:30 GMT, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s speech at 12:45 GMT, and investors weighing in on the possible results of the U.S. Non-Farm Payrolls data release tomorrow. The Dollar may rise for a second day versus the EUR on speculation of economic recovery after new data gave a mixed outlook for the services and manufacturing sectors of the U.S. economy. The USD advanced versus 10 of the 16 most-traded currencies yesterday after reports showed U.S. companies cut more jobs last month than economists forecast. The markets are also being calmed after officials from China to Japan, India, Russia and South Korea announced that the U.S. Dollar remains the world’s main reserve currency, economists said. The greenback had advanced earlier after news reports signaled major Asian central banks are prepared to keep buying U.S. Treasuries. The U.S Dollar rose significantly to $1.4168 per EUR, from $1.4307 yesterday. The U.S. currency may strengthen to as high as $1.4050 vs. the EUR today. In his appearance on Wednesday before the House of Representatives Budget Committee, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said rising U.S. debt was contributing to a spike in longer-term Interest Rates and now was the time to start working on reining in deficits. Yet the Dollar’s gains have been pretty moderate considering how much it has fallen recently. As Bernanke gave no clue as to whether the U.S. Federal Reserve would step up its purchases of government debt or mortgage-backed securities, this is likely to lead to high volatility for the Dollar in today’s trading. As for today, Ben Bernanke’s speech about the state of the U.S. economy at 12:45 GMT is set to drive USD volatility. Additionally, the anticipated results of tomorrow’s U.S. Non-Farm Payrolls are set to play a key role in the behavior of forex traders today.