Investing.com - The dollar remained moderately higher against the other major currencies on Wednesday, but gains were still limited as the previous session’s downbeat U.S. data lowered expectations for a rate hike by the Federal Reserve this year.
EUR/USD slipped 0.10% to 1.1245.
Sentiment on the greenback remained vulnerable after the Institute of Supply Management said on Tuesday that its non-manufacturing purchasing manager's index fell to 51.4 last month from 55.5 in July. Analysts had expected the index to drop to 55.0.
The data came after downbeat U.S. employment data published last Friday crushed expectations for an upcoming rate hike by the Fed.
Meanwhile, the single currency weakened as investors eyed the European Central Bank’s upcoming meeting on Thursday, amid speculation over potential easing measures to boost growth.
Earlier Wednesday, data showed that German industrial production declined by 1.5% in July, compared to expectations for an uptick 0.2% rise. Industrial production increased by 1.1% in June, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 0.8% gain.
GBP/USD declined 0.48% to 1.3376, off the previous session’s one-and-a-half month high of 1.3446.
The U.K. Office for National Statistics said on Wednesday that manufacturing production decreased by 0.9% in July, worse than expectations for a decline of 0.4%.
On an annualized basis, manufacturing production rose 0.8% in July, worse than forecasts for a 1.7% increase.
However, the report also showed that industrial production inched up by 0.1% in July, better than forecasts for a 0.2% decrease. Year-on-year, industrial production increased 2.1% in July, above expectations for a 1.9% rise.
USD/JPY slid 0.38% to 101.63, while USD/CHF eased 0.08% to trade at 0.9690.
The Australian dollar was steady, with AUD/USD at 0.7683, while NZD/USD climbed 0.63% to 0.7463.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics said earlier that gross domestic product rose 0.5% in the second quarter, disappointing expectations for an uptick of 0.6%.
Year-on-year, Australia’s GDP increased by 3.3% in the three months to June, compared to expectations for a 3.4% rise.
Elsewhere, USD/CAD advanced 0.42% to 1.2899, off Tuesday’s two-week trough of 1.2822.
The loonie weakened after the Bank of Canada said it was leaving its overnight cash rate unchanged at 0.50%, in line with market expectations, as well as keeping the bank rate a 0.75% and the deposit rate at 0.25%.
In addition, the BoC noted that global growth in the first half of 2016 was slower than it had projected but expected it to “strengthen gradually” in the remainder of the year.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.12% at 94.91, still close to the one-and-a-half week lows of 94.68 hit overnight.