Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was steady to higher against its major counterparts on Monday, as concerns over the outlook for economic growth continued to dominate market sentiment, supporting demand for the safe haven greenback.
During European morning trade, the dollar was fractionally higher against the euro, with EUR/USD edging down 0.07% to hit 1.2277.
Sentiment on the euro remained fragile after data showed that investor confidence in the euro zone for July deteriorated to the lowest level since July 2009, remaining in negative territory for the 12th consecutive month.
Sentix research group said its index of investor confidence declined to minus 29.6 in July from June’s reading of minus 28.9.
The single currency had fallen to a two-year low against the greenback on Friday, after official data showed that the U.S. economy added just 80,000 jobs in June, below market expectations for a gain of around 90,000.
Meanwhile, the yield on Spain’s 10-year government bonds climbed to 7.11% earlier, above the 6% threshold, widely seen as unsustainable, ahead of a meeting of euro zone finance ministers later in the day.
Euro zone officials were expected to discuss a plan announced last month and designed to help the region’s indebted countries and their struggling banking systems.
The greenback was little changed against the pound, with GBP/USD easing 0.04% to hit 1.5482.
Demand for sterling remained under pressure after the Bank of England said on Thursday that “the weaker outlook for U.K. output growth means that the margin of economic slack is likely to be greater and more persistent.”
The comments came after BoE policymakers voted to increase the stock of asset purchases financed by the issuance of central bank reserves to GBP375 billion and left the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 0.5%, where it’s stood since March 2009, in a widely expected move.
Elsewhere, the greenback was flat against the yen and higher against the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY trading at 79.67 and USD/CHF adding 0.10% to hit 0.9783.
In Japan, government data showed earlier that the country’s trade surplus narrowed to JPY0.28 trillion in May, its lowest level since 1985, from a surplus of JPY0.29 trillion the previous month.
A separate report showed that core machinery orders in Japan fell the most in seven years in May, tumbling 14.8%, far more than expectations for a 2.4% decline.
In addition, the greenback was higher against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD rising 0.10% to hit 1.0205, AUD/USD dropping 0.48% to hit 1.0162 and NZD/USD retreating 0.51% to hit 0.7938.
Industry data showed that the number of job advertisements in Australia fell 1.2% in June, following a 2.6% decline the previous month.
The commodity-linked currencies were also hit by Chinese government data released earlier showing that consumer price inflation accelerated at the slowest rate since January 2010 in June, potentially giving Beijing room to further ease monetary policy.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.08%, to trade at 83.54.
Later in the day, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi was to testify before the European Parliament, in Brussels.
During European morning trade, the dollar was fractionally higher against the euro, with EUR/USD edging down 0.07% to hit 1.2277.
Sentiment on the euro remained fragile after data showed that investor confidence in the euro zone for July deteriorated to the lowest level since July 2009, remaining in negative territory for the 12th consecutive month.
Sentix research group said its index of investor confidence declined to minus 29.6 in July from June’s reading of minus 28.9.
The single currency had fallen to a two-year low against the greenback on Friday, after official data showed that the U.S. economy added just 80,000 jobs in June, below market expectations for a gain of around 90,000.
Meanwhile, the yield on Spain’s 10-year government bonds climbed to 7.11% earlier, above the 6% threshold, widely seen as unsustainable, ahead of a meeting of euro zone finance ministers later in the day.
Euro zone officials were expected to discuss a plan announced last month and designed to help the region’s indebted countries and their struggling banking systems.
The greenback was little changed against the pound, with GBP/USD easing 0.04% to hit 1.5482.
Demand for sterling remained under pressure after the Bank of England said on Thursday that “the weaker outlook for U.K. output growth means that the margin of economic slack is likely to be greater and more persistent.”
The comments came after BoE policymakers voted to increase the stock of asset purchases financed by the issuance of central bank reserves to GBP375 billion and left the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 0.5%, where it’s stood since March 2009, in a widely expected move.
Elsewhere, the greenback was flat against the yen and higher against the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY trading at 79.67 and USD/CHF adding 0.10% to hit 0.9783.
In Japan, government data showed earlier that the country’s trade surplus narrowed to JPY0.28 trillion in May, its lowest level since 1985, from a surplus of JPY0.29 trillion the previous month.
A separate report showed that core machinery orders in Japan fell the most in seven years in May, tumbling 14.8%, far more than expectations for a 2.4% decline.
In addition, the greenback was higher against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD rising 0.10% to hit 1.0205, AUD/USD dropping 0.48% to hit 1.0162 and NZD/USD retreating 0.51% to hit 0.7938.
Industry data showed that the number of job advertisements in Australia fell 1.2% in June, following a 2.6% decline the previous month.
The commodity-linked currencies were also hit by Chinese government data released earlier showing that consumer price inflation accelerated at the slowest rate since January 2010 in June, potentially giving Beijing room to further ease monetary policy.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.08%, to trade at 83.54.
Later in the day, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi was to testify before the European Parliament, in Brussels.