Euro Resumes Rally

The dollar continued to hover near record lows against the euro Thursday as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke started a second day of economic testimony before Congress and a new report showed further weakness in the housing sector.

The Conference Board says its index of leading indicators dropped 0.3% in June, a greater fall than the 0.1% decline the consensus was expecting. A reduced level of new building permits was a key piece of the story.

One euro was trading for $1.3825, up from $1.3793 late Wednesday and near its record high of $1.383 seen in the prior session. The pound was buying $2.0483, down from $2.0524 a day earlier. The dollar was worth 122.12 yen, up form 121.98 yen previously.

The currency exchange-traded funds followed the foreign exchange market action. The CurrencyShares Euro Trust(FXE - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) was up 0.2%, while the CurrencyShares Japanese Yen Trust(FXY - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) and the CurrencyShares British Pound Sterling Trust(FXB - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) were both off 0.2% in early action.

Among base metals, prices for benchmark copper contracts were rallying 7 cents at $3.63 a pound after a new report showed consumption of the metal growing faster than production. The move puts the price of copper right on the psychologically important level of $8,000 a metric ton.

Copper producer Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold(FCX - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) was climbing 2% at about $95 a share in early action, helped by the strength in the metals markets.