Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was lower against most of its major counterparts on Wednesday, as investors awaited the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s most recent policy meeting, which could show whether the central bank is leaning toward more stimulus to boost growth.
Losses were limited as concerns over the euro zone’s ongoing debt concerns and worries over the outlook for economic growth supported demand for the safe haven greenback.
During European morning trade, the dollar was fractionally lower against the euro, with EUR/USD easing up 0.09% to hit 1.2261.
Sentiment on the euro remained fragile after the German Constitutional Court delayed on Tuesday its decision on whether the euro zone's bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism, is compatible with German law.
The court said a decision could take months rather than weeks due to the complexity of the ruling. Without German backing, the ESM, which was originally meant to start on July 1, then delayed to July 9, cannot come into effect.
Meanwhile, the latest meeting of euro zone finance ministers also continued to weigh on investor confidence.
While the ministers agreed to grant Spain an extra year through 2014 to reach its deficit reduction targets, they did not come up with a final figure for aid for the country's ailing banks but said some EUR30 billion would be available by the end of this month.
The greenback was mildly lower against the pound, with GBP/USD inching up 0.1% to hit 1.5535.
Sterling remained supported after data on Tuesday showed that manufacturing production rose by 1.2% in May, blowing past expectations for a more modest 0.1% gain, after falling by 0.8% in April.
Elsewhere, the greenback was lower against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY shedding 0.19% to hit 79.27 and USD/CHF edging down 0.08% to hit 0.9796.
Expectations that the Bank of Japan will hold back from announcing more monetary easing at this week’s policy meeting lent support to the yen.
Elsewhere, the greenback was lower against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD shedding 0.16% to hit 1.0210, AUD/USD rising 0.44% to hit 1.0236 and NZD/USD adding 0.27% to hit 0.7961.
The Aussie was boosted after a report by Westpac Banking Corporation showed that consumer sentiment in Australia improved by 3.7% in July, following a 0.3% rise the previous month.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.13%, to trade at 83.45.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release official data on trade balance and crude oil stockpiles, followed by the minutes of the Fed’s June policy-setting meeting.
Losses were limited as concerns over the euro zone’s ongoing debt concerns and worries over the outlook for economic growth supported demand for the safe haven greenback.
During European morning trade, the dollar was fractionally lower against the euro, with EUR/USD easing up 0.09% to hit 1.2261.
Sentiment on the euro remained fragile after the German Constitutional Court delayed on Tuesday its decision on whether the euro zone's bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism, is compatible with German law.
The court said a decision could take months rather than weeks due to the complexity of the ruling. Without German backing, the ESM, which was originally meant to start on July 1, then delayed to July 9, cannot come into effect.
Meanwhile, the latest meeting of euro zone finance ministers also continued to weigh on investor confidence.
While the ministers agreed to grant Spain an extra year through 2014 to reach its deficit reduction targets, they did not come up with a final figure for aid for the country's ailing banks but said some EUR30 billion would be available by the end of this month.
The greenback was mildly lower against the pound, with GBP/USD inching up 0.1% to hit 1.5535.
Sterling remained supported after data on Tuesday showed that manufacturing production rose by 1.2% in May, blowing past expectations for a more modest 0.1% gain, after falling by 0.8% in April.
Elsewhere, the greenback was lower against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY shedding 0.19% to hit 79.27 and USD/CHF edging down 0.08% to hit 0.9796.
Expectations that the Bank of Japan will hold back from announcing more monetary easing at this week’s policy meeting lent support to the yen.
Elsewhere, the greenback was lower against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD shedding 0.16% to hit 1.0210, AUD/USD rising 0.44% to hit 1.0236 and NZD/USD adding 0.27% to hit 0.7961.
The Aussie was boosted after a report by Westpac Banking Corporation showed that consumer sentiment in Australia improved by 3.7% in July, following a 0.3% rise the previous month.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.13%, to trade at 83.45.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release official data on trade balance and crude oil stockpiles, followed by the minutes of the Fed’s June policy-setting meeting.