Investing.com - The dollar was broadly lower against a basket of other major currencies on Thursday, as the previous session's downbeat U.S. economic reports continued to dampen demand for the greenback.
The greenback weakened on Wednesday after the Institute for Supply Management said that its index of purchasing managers fell to a 14-month low of 51.5 last month from a reading of 52.9 in February.
Separately, payroll processing firm ADP reported that non-farm private employment rose by 189,000 last month, below expectations for an increase of 225,000.
Investors were awaiting the U.S. jobs report due out on Friday, which was expected to support 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 down 0.42% to 98.12.
EUR/USD advanced 0.58% to 1.0824.
The euro’s gains were held in check however, as a deadlock over the Greek government’s reform plans continued.
Athens will run out of cash later this month unless it can reach a compromise with its creditors on a program of economic reforms in time to unlock more bailout funds.
The pound edged lower, with GBP/USD slipping - to - after research firm Markit said the U.K. construction purchasing managers' index ticked down to 57.8 in March from February’s four-month high of 60.1.
Economists had expected the index decline to 59.5.
All three areas of construction activity lost momentum in March, with a marked slowdown in civil engineering growth. Markit said uncertainty related to the forthcoming general election had encouraged some clients to delay spending decisions.
Elsewhere, the dollar was lower against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY falling 0.14% to 119.58 and with USD/CHF retreating 0.53% to 0.9619.
The Australian was lower, with AUD/USD sliding 0.41% at 0.7566. Statistics Australia earlier reported that the country's trade deficit narrowed to A$1.26 billion in February from A$1.00 billion in January, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated deficit of A$0.98 billion.
Analysts had expected the trade deficit to widen to A$1.300 billion in February.
Meanwhile, NZD/USD rose 0.34% to 0.7476 and USD/CAD eased 0.09% to trade at 1.2611.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release data on the trade balance, as well as on initial jobless claims and factory orders.