Investing.com - The dollar held steady against a basket of other major currencies on Wednesday, as conditions for Greece's third bailout were still to be approved by parliament before the end of the day and as investors looked ahead to testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen later Wednesday.
The dollar came under pressure after the U.S. Commerce Department said on Tuesday that retail sales fell 0.3% in June, compared to expectations for a 0.2% increase.
The disappointing data fueled concerns over the outlook for the economic recovery and tempered expectations for higher interest rates.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 96.76.
EUR/USD edged up 0.15% to 1.1024 as investors remained cautious as Greece's government on Tuesday submitted the bailout terms demanded by eurozone creditors to parliament and as Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras battled for support for the reforms from his ruling anti-austerity Syriza party.
Four pieces of legislation must be passed by the end of the day on Wednesday, including pension and sales tax reforms.
The pound was steady, with GBP/USD at 1.5629 after the U.K. Office for National Statistics said the jobless rate ticked up to 5.6% in the three months to May from 5.5% in the previous three month period. Economist had expected an unchanged reading.
It was the first increase in the unemployment rate since early 2013 as the number of people in the labor force fell by 67,000, due in large part to declines in the number of people in part-time work.
The number of people claiming unemployment benefits rose by 7,000, compared to expectations for a decline of 8,800.
Pay growth picked up in the three months to May, with average earnings including bonuses rising 3.2% from a year earlier, up from 2.7% in April. It was the fastest increase since April 2010, but was just short of forecasts of 3.3%.
Excluding bonuses, hourly earnings rose 2.8% on a year-over-year basis, up from 2.7% previously, but below forecasts for 3.0%. It was still the biggest increase in six years the ONS said.
Elsewhere, the dollar was higher against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY up 0.14% at 123.57 and with USD/CHF rising 0.24% to 0.9470.
The Australian dollar was little changed, with AUD/USD at 0.7457, while NZD/USD slid 0.30% to 0.6691.
The Westpac Banking Corporation earlier reported that its consumer sentiment index for Australia fell 3.2% in July after a decline of 6.9% the previous month.
The export-related currencies showed little reaction to data on Wednesday showing that China's gross domestic product rose by 7.0% in the second quarter, beating expectations for a growth rate of 6.9%.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD added 0.27% to trade at 1.2764.