Investing.com - The U.S. dollar remained lower against most of its major counterparts on Wednesday, as hopes that Greece will manage to secure its second bailout bailout package supported demand for riskier assets.
During European afternoon trade, the dollar was steady against the euro, with EUR/USD edging down 0.05% to hit 1.3126.
The euro came under pressure after Eurostat said that the euro zone’s gross domestic product shrank by a seasonally adjusted 0.3% during the fourth quarter and grew by just 0 .7% during 2011 as a whole.
Germany’s economy contracted less-than-expected in the final three months of 2011, shrinking by a seasonally adjusted 0.2%, slightly better than expectations for a contraction of 0.3%.
Meanwhile, euro zone finance ministers cancelled a meeting planned for later Wednesday to sign off on Greece’s bailout, after failing to receive assurances on how Athens plans to implement recently approved austerity measures. However, the ministers were expected to hold a teleconference ahead on a meeting on Monday.
Sentiment strengthened earlier after the head of China’s central bank said he believes the euro zone’s debt crisis can be solved and said that China will become more involved in efforts to resolve the crisis through mechanisms such as the European Financial Stability Facility.
The greenback was also lower against the pound, with GBP/USD adding 0.09% to hit 1.5708.
In the U.K., Bank of England Governor Mervyn King said that Britain has drawn up contingency plans for a Greek default.
The comments came after the BoE cast doubts over the possibility of further quantitative easing in its February inflation report after it raised its inflation forecast for two years time to a higher-than-expected 1.8%.
A report earlier showed that the number of people claiming unemployment benefits in the U.K. rose more-than-expected in January, while the unemployment rate held steady at 8.4%, the highest level since 1996.
The greenback was higher against yen, with USD/JPY advancing 0.16% to hit 78.56.
The yen slumped to a three month low against the greenback earlier after the Bank of Japan unexpectedly announced that it would increase the size of its asset-purchase program by JPY10 trillion in an attempt to boost growth and protect the economy from the effects of the strong yen.
The greenback was steady against the Swiss franc with USD/CHF dipping 0.01% to hit 0.9193.
Data showed earlier that the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) said its indicator of economic sentiment for Switzerland improved to minus 21.2 in February from a reading of minus 50.1 in January.
Elsewhere, the greenback was lower against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD shedding 0.41% to hit 0.9950, AUD/USD climbing 0.57% to hit 1.0755 and NZD/USD rallying 0.67% to hit 0.8393.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, slipped 0.10% to hit 79.48.
Later Wednesday, the U.S. was to release a report on manufacturing activity in the New York region, as well as data on industrial production and the capacity utilization rate. In addition, the Federal Reserve was to publish the minutes of its most recent policy meeting.
During European afternoon trade, the dollar was steady against the euro, with EUR/USD edging down 0.05% to hit 1.3126.
The euro came under pressure after Eurostat said that the euro zone’s gross domestic product shrank by a seasonally adjusted 0.3% during the fourth quarter and grew by just 0 .7% during 2011 as a whole.
Germany’s economy contracted less-than-expected in the final three months of 2011, shrinking by a seasonally adjusted 0.2%, slightly better than expectations for a contraction of 0.3%.
Meanwhile, euro zone finance ministers cancelled a meeting planned for later Wednesday to sign off on Greece’s bailout, after failing to receive assurances on how Athens plans to implement recently approved austerity measures. However, the ministers were expected to hold a teleconference ahead on a meeting on Monday.
Sentiment strengthened earlier after the head of China’s central bank said he believes the euro zone’s debt crisis can be solved and said that China will become more involved in efforts to resolve the crisis through mechanisms such as the European Financial Stability Facility.
The greenback was also lower against the pound, with GBP/USD adding 0.09% to hit 1.5708.
In the U.K., Bank of England Governor Mervyn King said that Britain has drawn up contingency plans for a Greek default.
The comments came after the BoE cast doubts over the possibility of further quantitative easing in its February inflation report after it raised its inflation forecast for two years time to a higher-than-expected 1.8%.
A report earlier showed that the number of people claiming unemployment benefits in the U.K. rose more-than-expected in January, while the unemployment rate held steady at 8.4%, the highest level since 1996.
The greenback was higher against yen, with USD/JPY advancing 0.16% to hit 78.56.
The yen slumped to a three month low against the greenback earlier after the Bank of Japan unexpectedly announced that it would increase the size of its asset-purchase program by JPY10 trillion in an attempt to boost growth and protect the economy from the effects of the strong yen.
The greenback was steady against the Swiss franc with USD/CHF dipping 0.01% to hit 0.9193.
Data showed earlier that the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) said its indicator of economic sentiment for Switzerland improved to minus 21.2 in February from a reading of minus 50.1 in January.
Elsewhere, the greenback was lower against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD shedding 0.41% to hit 0.9950, AUD/USD climbing 0.57% to hit 1.0755 and NZD/USD rallying 0.67% to hit 0.8393.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, slipped 0.10% to hit 79.48.
Later Wednesday, the U.S. was to release a report on manufacturing activity in the New York region, as well as data on industrial production and the capacity utilization rate. In addition, the Federal Reserve was to publish the minutes of its most recent policy meeting.