Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was trading in a tight range against its major counterparts on Thursday, as weaker-than-expected U.S. manufacturing data sparked fresh concerns over the outlook for the U.S. economic recovery, but concerns over the situation in the euro zone supported safe haven demand.
During European afternoon trade, the dollar pulled back from a 22-month high against the euro, with EUR/USD inching up 0.05% to hit 1.2587.
The Commerce Department said U.S. core durable goods orders fell by a seasonally adjusted 0.6% in April, defying expectations for a 0.9% gain and dropping for the second consecutive month.
Total durable goods orders, which include transportation items, inched by a seasonally adjusted 0.2% in April, below expectations for a 0.5% gain.
Risk appetite was also boosted by speculation that the European Central Bank may conduct another liquidity boosting operation.
The euro fell sharply against the greenback earlier after data showed that manufacturing activity in the euro area contracted at the fastest pace since June 2009 in May, while service sector activity shrank at the steepest pace in seven months.
Germany manufacturing activity slowed to the lowest level in almost three years in May, sparking fresh fears over the impact of the euro zone debt crisis on the region’s largest economy.
A separate report showed that the German Ifo business climate index deteriorated significantly more-than-expected in May, pressured lower by uncertainty in the euro zone.
Market participants also remained risk adverse after Wednesday’s summit of European Union leaders made little signs of progress in tackling the debt crisis in the region.
The greenback erased gains against the pound, with GBP/USD rising 0.11% to hit 1.5709.
Data from the U.K. on Thursday showed that the economy contracted by 0.3% in the three months to March, more than preliminary estimate for a 0.2% contraction driven by the sharpest quarterly contraction in construction since the first quarter of 2009.
Elsewhere, the greenback was marginally lower against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY inching down 0.06% to hit 79.43 and USD/CHF dipping 0.02% to hit 0.9544.
The greenback turned lower against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD slipping 0.11% to hit 1.0240, AUD/USD climbing 0.48% to hit 0.9791 and NZD/USD rallying 0.72% to hit 0.7553.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, dipped 0.01% to trade at 82.17.
Also Thursday, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week fell to a seasonally adjusted 370,000, in line with expectations.
During European afternoon trade, the dollar pulled back from a 22-month high against the euro, with EUR/USD inching up 0.05% to hit 1.2587.
The Commerce Department said U.S. core durable goods orders fell by a seasonally adjusted 0.6% in April, defying expectations for a 0.9% gain and dropping for the second consecutive month.
Total durable goods orders, which include transportation items, inched by a seasonally adjusted 0.2% in April, below expectations for a 0.5% gain.
Risk appetite was also boosted by speculation that the European Central Bank may conduct another liquidity boosting operation.
The euro fell sharply against the greenback earlier after data showed that manufacturing activity in the euro area contracted at the fastest pace since June 2009 in May, while service sector activity shrank at the steepest pace in seven months.
Germany manufacturing activity slowed to the lowest level in almost three years in May, sparking fresh fears over the impact of the euro zone debt crisis on the region’s largest economy.
A separate report showed that the German Ifo business climate index deteriorated significantly more-than-expected in May, pressured lower by uncertainty in the euro zone.
Market participants also remained risk adverse after Wednesday’s summit of European Union leaders made little signs of progress in tackling the debt crisis in the region.
The greenback erased gains against the pound, with GBP/USD rising 0.11% to hit 1.5709.
Data from the U.K. on Thursday showed that the economy contracted by 0.3% in the three months to March, more than preliminary estimate for a 0.2% contraction driven by the sharpest quarterly contraction in construction since the first quarter of 2009.
Elsewhere, the greenback was marginally lower against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY inching down 0.06% to hit 79.43 and USD/CHF dipping 0.02% to hit 0.9544.
The greenback turned lower against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD slipping 0.11% to hit 1.0240, AUD/USD climbing 0.48% to hit 0.9791 and NZD/USD rallying 0.72% to hit 0.7553.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, dipped 0.01% to trade at 82.17.
Also Thursday, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week fell to a seasonally adjusted 370,000, in line with expectations.