Dollar broadly lower vs. rivals after E.Z. data

Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was broadly lower against the other major currencies on Thursday, after the release of globally positive economic data from the euro zone, while concerns over U.S. fiscal policy continued to linger.

During European later morning trade, the dollar was lower against the euro, with EUR/USD adding 0.15% to 1.2753.

The euro found support after official data showed that euro zone contracted by 0.1% in the third quarter, less that the expected 0.2% contraction and following a 0.2% fall in the previous quarter.

A separate report showed that consumer price inflation in the euro zone held steady at 2.5% in October, unchanged from an initial estimate and in line with expectations.

Core CPI, which excludes food, energy, alcohol, and tobacco costs held steady at 1.5%, unchanged from a preliminary estimate and matching forecasts.

Earlier Thursday, official data showed that the pace of Germany's economic growth slowed to 0.2% in the third quarter, following a 0.3% increase in the previous quarter.

Meanwhile, investors remained concerned over the looming “fiscal cliff” in the U.S., approximately USD600 billion in automatic tax hikes and spending cuts due to come into effect on January 1.

There are fears the U.S. economy will fall back into a recession, unless a divided Congress and the White House can work out a compromise before then.

The greenback was steady against the pound, with GBP/USD inching up 0.03% to 1.5845.

Earlier in the day, official data showed that U.K. retail sales fell more-than-expected in October, ticking down 0.08% after a 0.5% rise the previous month.

Analysts had expected retail sales to fall by 0.1% in October.

Elsewhere, the greenback was sharply higher against the yen, with USD/JPY rallying 1.12% to trade at 81.14, but edged lower against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF slipping 0.11% to 0.9440.

The yen came under broad selling pressure after Shinzo Abe, the head of Japan's main opposition party and frontrunner in next month's election, called for aggressive monetary easing by the Bank of Japan to support growth.

The comments came after Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said on Wednesday he could dissolve the lower house of the parliament on November 16, suggesting that an election will be held next month.

The greenback was mixed to lower against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD falling 0.24% to 1.0014, AUD/USD sliding 0.39% to 1.0335 and NZD/USD adding 0.15% to 0.8115.

The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.05% to 81.21.

Later in the day, the U.S. was to release reports on initial jobless claims, consumer price inflation, crude oil stockpiles, in addition to data on manufacturing activity in New York and Philadelphia.

Meanwhile, a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was to be closely watched for any indications on the future possible direction of monetary policy.