Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was broadly lower against its global counterparts on Monday, after dovish remarks by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke fuelled expectations for a third round of quantitative easing from the central bank.
During U.S. morning trade, the dollar dropped to a three-week low against the euro, with EUR/USD climbing 0.44% to hit 1.3329.
The greenback came under broad selling pressure after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said that further monetary accommodation is needed to bring about big gains in the U.S. jobs market, which he described as “far from normal,” despite a recent improvement.
Sentiment on the greenback was further hit after an industry report showed that pending home sales in the U.S. declined unexpectedly in February, indicating that the recovery in the housing market remains uneven.
The National Association of Realtors said its pending home sales index fell by 0.5% last month, confounding expectations for a 1.0% gain. Pending home sales rose by 2.0% in January.
In the euro zone, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said earlier that Germany would be prepared to allow running the region’s two bailout funds in parallel, which would give a total fund of EUR700 billion to combat the debt crisis in the single currency bloc.
The euro also found support after a report showed that German business confidence improved in March.
The Ifo Institute said that its index of German business confidence inched up to 109.8, from a reading of 109.6 in February. Analysts had expected the index to ease up to 109.7 this month.
However, investors remained cautious after Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti warned that the threat of contagion from Spain could cause the debt crisis in the euro zone to flare up again.
The greenback was also down against the pound, with GBP/USD gaining 0.42% to hit 1.5936.
The greenback was higher against the yen but weakened against the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY rising 0.60% to hit 82.83 and USD/CHF shedding 0.40% to hit 0.9042.
Elsewhere, the greenback was lower against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand cousins, with USD/CAD falling 0.54% to hit 0.9923, AUD/USD advancing 0.39% to hit 1.0507 and NZD/USD rising 0.30% to hit 0.8205.
Earlier in the day, official data showed that New Zealand posted a trade surplus of NZD161 million in February, after posting a deficit of NZD159 million the previous month.
Analysts had expected a trade surplus of NZD154 million last month.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, fell 0.33% to hit 79.26.
Meanwhile, market participants were looking ahead to a speech by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi later in the day.
During U.S. morning trade, the dollar dropped to a three-week low against the euro, with EUR/USD climbing 0.44% to hit 1.3329.
The greenback came under broad selling pressure after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said that further monetary accommodation is needed to bring about big gains in the U.S. jobs market, which he described as “far from normal,” despite a recent improvement.
Sentiment on the greenback was further hit after an industry report showed that pending home sales in the U.S. declined unexpectedly in February, indicating that the recovery in the housing market remains uneven.
The National Association of Realtors said its pending home sales index fell by 0.5% last month, confounding expectations for a 1.0% gain. Pending home sales rose by 2.0% in January.
In the euro zone, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said earlier that Germany would be prepared to allow running the region’s two bailout funds in parallel, which would give a total fund of EUR700 billion to combat the debt crisis in the single currency bloc.
The euro also found support after a report showed that German business confidence improved in March.
The Ifo Institute said that its index of German business confidence inched up to 109.8, from a reading of 109.6 in February. Analysts had expected the index to ease up to 109.7 this month.
However, investors remained cautious after Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti warned that the threat of contagion from Spain could cause the debt crisis in the euro zone to flare up again.
The greenback was also down against the pound, with GBP/USD gaining 0.42% to hit 1.5936.
The greenback was higher against the yen but weakened against the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY rising 0.60% to hit 82.83 and USD/CHF shedding 0.40% to hit 0.9042.
Elsewhere, the greenback was lower against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand cousins, with USD/CAD falling 0.54% to hit 0.9923, AUD/USD advancing 0.39% to hit 1.0507 and NZD/USD rising 0.30% to hit 0.8205.
Earlier in the day, official data showed that New Zealand posted a trade surplus of NZD161 million in February, after posting a deficit of NZD159 million the previous month.
Analysts had expected a trade surplus of NZD154 million last month.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, fell 0.33% to hit 79.26.
Meanwhile, market participants were looking ahead to a speech by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi later in the day.