Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was broadly lower against its major counterparts on Thursday, as hopes that Greece was moving closer to securing a second bailout supported market sentiment ahead of policy decisions by the European Central Bank and the Bank of England later in the day.
During European morning trade, the dollar was lower against the euro, with EUR/USD adding 0.28% to hit 1.3297.
Following talks on Wednesday, Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos said political leaders had reached an agreement in principle on austerity measures required for the country to secure its next aid package, but the issue of proposed pension cuts was unresolved.
Mr. Papademos said discussions on the issue with international lenders would continue, in the hope of reaching an agreement ahead of a meeting of euro zone finance ministers later Thursday.
Investors were also looking ahead to the ECB’s policy meeting later in the day, amid expectations that the bank could flag a possible rate cut next month.
The greenback was also lower against the pound, with GBP/USD rising 0.26% to hit 1.5859.
In the U.K., official data showed that manufacturing production rose significantly more-than-expected in December, increasing for the first time in three months, while industrial production also rose more-than-expected.
A separate report showed that the U.K. trade deficit narrowed more-than-expected in January, contracting to GBP7.1 billion, from an upwardly revised GBP8.9 billion the previous month.
Meanwhile, speculation mounted that the BoE would implement a further GBP50 billion of quantitative easing at its policy setting meeting later in the day.
The greenback was slightly higher against yen but was lower against the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY easing up 0.17% to hit 77.17 and USD/CHF sliding 0.22% to hit 0.9105.
A report earlier showed that Switzerland's consumer climate index improved slightly more-than-expected in January.
Elsewhere, the greenback was lower against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD slipping 0.16% to hit 0.9943, AUD/USD up 0.21% to hit 1.0822 and NZD/USD rising 0.29% to hit 0.8375.
The New Zealand dollar came under pressure earlier in the session after official data showed that the number of people employed rose 0.1% to 2.221 million in the fourth quarter, missing expectations for a 0.4% increase.
However, the data showed that the unemployment rate fell to a 21-month low of 6.3% on a sharp rise in the number of part-time workers.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, slid 0.23% to hit 78.54.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to produce government data on initial jobless claims.
During European morning trade, the dollar was lower against the euro, with EUR/USD adding 0.28% to hit 1.3297.
Following talks on Wednesday, Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos said political leaders had reached an agreement in principle on austerity measures required for the country to secure its next aid package, but the issue of proposed pension cuts was unresolved.
Mr. Papademos said discussions on the issue with international lenders would continue, in the hope of reaching an agreement ahead of a meeting of euro zone finance ministers later Thursday.
Investors were also looking ahead to the ECB’s policy meeting later in the day, amid expectations that the bank could flag a possible rate cut next month.
The greenback was also lower against the pound, with GBP/USD rising 0.26% to hit 1.5859.
In the U.K., official data showed that manufacturing production rose significantly more-than-expected in December, increasing for the first time in three months, while industrial production also rose more-than-expected.
A separate report showed that the U.K. trade deficit narrowed more-than-expected in January, contracting to GBP7.1 billion, from an upwardly revised GBP8.9 billion the previous month.
Meanwhile, speculation mounted that the BoE would implement a further GBP50 billion of quantitative easing at its policy setting meeting later in the day.
The greenback was slightly higher against yen but was lower against the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY easing up 0.17% to hit 77.17 and USD/CHF sliding 0.22% to hit 0.9105.
A report earlier showed that Switzerland's consumer climate index improved slightly more-than-expected in January.
Elsewhere, the greenback was lower against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD slipping 0.16% to hit 0.9943, AUD/USD up 0.21% to hit 1.0822 and NZD/USD rising 0.29% to hit 0.8375.
The New Zealand dollar came under pressure earlier in the session after official data showed that the number of people employed rose 0.1% to 2.221 million in the fourth quarter, missing expectations for a 0.4% increase.
However, the data showed that the unemployment rate fell to a 21-month low of 6.3% on a sharp rise in the number of part-time workers.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, slid 0.23% to hit 78.54.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to produce government data on initial jobless claims.