Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was broadly lower against its major counterparts on Wednesday, as investors focused on the signing off of a Greek debt swap deal later in the week while concerns over global growth continued to weigh.
During European morning trade, the dollar was lower against the euro, with EUR/USD rising 0.24% to hit 1.3145.
Concerns over a potential Greek default persisted ahead of the March 8 deadline for the country’s private creditors to sign on to a EUR106 billion debt swap deal, a requirement for Athens to tap a recently approved EUR130 billion bailout fund.
On Tuesday, Greek finance minister Evangelos Venizelos strongly urged private sector creditors to take part in the debt swap deal and warned that bond-holders who rejected the deal would not be paid out later.
Market sentiment was also dented by fears that the euro zone is slipping into a recession after data on Tuesday confirmed that the region’s economy contracted by 0.3% in the last three months of 2011, as household spending, exports and imports all fell.
The greenback was also lower against the pound, with GBP/USD adding 0.19% to hit 1.5746.
The greenback was lower against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY falling 0.20% to hit 80.73 and USD/CHF slipping 0.19% to hit 0.9172.
Earlier in the day, the Swiss National bank said that its foreign currency reserves fell to CHF224.9 billion in February from CHF229.4 billion the previous month.
The data came after a report showing that the Swiss unemployment rate held steady at 3.1%for the third consecutive month in February.
Meanwhile, the greenback was lower against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD declining 0.19% to hit 1.0000, AUD/USD advancing 0.17% to hit 1.0570 and NZD/USD climbing 0.66% to hit 0.8178.
Official data showed earlier that Australia’s economy expanded by a seasonally adjusted 0.4% in the fourth quarter, disappointing expectations for a 0.7% increase.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, slipped 0.20% to hit 79.74.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish a report on ADP non-farm payrolls, followed by revised data on non-farm productivity and labor costs, as well as a report on crude oil stockpiles.
During European morning trade, the dollar was lower against the euro, with EUR/USD rising 0.24% to hit 1.3145.
Concerns over a potential Greek default persisted ahead of the March 8 deadline for the country’s private creditors to sign on to a EUR106 billion debt swap deal, a requirement for Athens to tap a recently approved EUR130 billion bailout fund.
On Tuesday, Greek finance minister Evangelos Venizelos strongly urged private sector creditors to take part in the debt swap deal and warned that bond-holders who rejected the deal would not be paid out later.
Market sentiment was also dented by fears that the euro zone is slipping into a recession after data on Tuesday confirmed that the region’s economy contracted by 0.3% in the last three months of 2011, as household spending, exports and imports all fell.
The greenback was also lower against the pound, with GBP/USD adding 0.19% to hit 1.5746.
The greenback was lower against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY falling 0.20% to hit 80.73 and USD/CHF slipping 0.19% to hit 0.9172.
Earlier in the day, the Swiss National bank said that its foreign currency reserves fell to CHF224.9 billion in February from CHF229.4 billion the previous month.
The data came after a report showing that the Swiss unemployment rate held steady at 3.1%for the third consecutive month in February.
Meanwhile, the greenback was lower against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD declining 0.19% to hit 1.0000, AUD/USD advancing 0.17% to hit 1.0570 and NZD/USD climbing 0.66% to hit 0.8178.
Official data showed earlier that Australia’s economy expanded by a seasonally adjusted 0.4% in the fourth quarter, disappointing expectations for a 0.7% increase.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, slipped 0.20% to hit 79.74.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish a report on ADP non-farm payrolls, followed by revised data on non-farm productivity and labor costs, as well as a report on crude oil stockpiles.