Investing.com - The dollar slipped lower against the euro on Thursday ahead of the European Central Bank’s policy decision later in the session, while the yen was steady after better-than-expected Chinese trade data buoyed market sentiment.
EUR/USD was up 0.18% to 1.3935, not far from the two-month peak of 1.3950 struck on Monday.
The ECB was widely expected to leave monetary policy on hold after recent data showed that the annual rate of inflation in the euro zone ticked up to 0.7% in April from a record low 0.5% in March.
The ECB targets inflation of close to but just below 2%.
The uptick in consumer prices eased pressure on the bank to implement fresh policy measures to tackle low inflation in the region.
The dollar was slightly lower against the yen, with USD/JPY dipping 0.06% to 101.83, holding above the three-week trough of 101.42 struck in the previous session.
Market sentiment was boosted after official data on Wednesday showed that Chinese imports and exports both rose slightly in April from a year earlier, confounding forecasts for them to decline. The data eased concerns over a slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy.
The pound was steady near almost five-year highs against the dollar, with GBP/USD trading at 1.6957, just below Tuesday’s peaks of 1.6993. Recent robust economic reports have boosted expectations that the Bank of England will raise rates ahead of other central banks.
The BoE was expected to leave monetary policy unchanged at the conclusion of its monthly meeting later Thursday.
Elsewhere, USD/CHF slipped 0.18% to 0.8746.
AUD/USD advanced 0.63% to a three-week high of 0.9388, boosted by the upbeat Chinese data and a stronger than forecast domestic jobs report for April.
The number of employed people in Australia rose by 14,200 in April, beating expectations for a 6,800 increase, official data showed, while the unemployment rate remained steady at 5.8%.
NZD/USD was little changed at 0.8658, and USD/CAD slid 0.13% to 1.0884.
The US Dollar Index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.14% to 79.16, not far from the six-month trough of 79.09 reached on Tuesday.