Investing.com - The dollar fell against the other major currencies on Wednesday, as concerns over global growth and declining oil prices supported the safe-haven yen and Swiss franc and as investors awaited the release of U.S. data later in the day.
USD/JPY tumbled 1.01% to one-year lows of 116.48.
Oil prices dropped to the lowest level since 2003 on Wednesday, falling below $28 per barrel after the International Energy Agency said in a report that the supply glut in markets looks set to last until at least late 2016.
The drop in oil prices, which are down more than 70% from their 2014 high, has fueled mounting risk aversion, sending global equities sharply lower since the start of the year.
In addition, fears over the global economic outlook escalated after data on Tuesday showed that China’s economy expanded 6.9% in 2015, the slowest rate of growth in 25 years.
The ongoing oil rout continued to weigh on the commodity-related Canadian dollar. USD/CAD was up 0.45% at a fresh 13-year high of 1.4646.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were also weaker, with AUD/USD down 0.74% at 0.6857 and with NZD/USD retreating 0.72% to trade at 0.6368.
Meanwhile, EUR/USD rose 0.23% to trade at 1.0933.
Elsewhere, the dollar was lower against the pound and the Swiss franc, with GBP/USD up 0.11% at nearly seven-year lows of 1.4175, and with USD/CHF slipping 0.12% to 1.0021.
Earlier Wednesday, the U.K. Office for National Statistics said the unemployment rate fell to 5.1% in the three months to November, its lowest since the three months to January 2006. Analysts had expected the jobless rate to hold steady at 5.2%.
The number of people employed rose by 267,000, the third biggest increase on record.
Average weekly earnings excluding bonuses, wages rose by 1.9%, compared to expectations of a 1.8% rise. This was the weakest growth since February last year.
Including bonuses, wages rose by 2.0% in the three months to November, missing forecasts for a gain of 2.1% and slowing from 2.4% in the previous three month period.
The pound weakened across the board on Tuesday after Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said policymakers want to see faster U.K. growth and stronger inflation before raising interest rates.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.16% at 99.00.