Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was lower against its major counterparts on Tuesday, after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Monday that further monetary accommodation is needed to bring about big gains in the U.S. jobs market, despite a recent improvement.
During European morning trade, the dollar was lower against the euro, with EUR/USD adding 0.07% to hit 1.3367.
The euro fell earlier after a Gfk report showed that an index of consumer climate for Germany fell unexpectedly in March, ticking down to 5.9 from 6.0 the previous month.
Analysts had expected the index to rise to 6.2 in March.
Investors also remained cautious as concerns over high Spanish borrowing costs persisted ahead of the government’s budget statement on Friday.
Meanwhile, euro zone finance ministers were to meet Friday to discuss how to increase the size of the region’s bailout fund in order to prevent debt contagion.
The greenback was also lower against the pound, with GBP/USD edging up 0.04% to hit 1.5977.
Bank of England policymaker David Miles said Monday that economic growth has stalled in the past six months, fuelling concerns that the central bank may resort to a fresh round of monetary easing to shore up the economy.
The greenback was fractionally lower against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY retreating 0.13% to hit 82.72 and USD/CHF edging down 0.09% to hit 0.9022.
Elsewhere, the greenback was steady against its Canadian counterpart and lower against its Australian and New Zealand cousins, with USD/CAD easing 0.01% to hit 0.9909, AUD/USD rising 0.06% to hit 1.0538 and NZD/USD advancing 0.22% to hit 0.8250.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, fell 0.11% to hit 79.02.
Later Tuesday, the U.S. was to release a close watched report on consumer confidence, as well as industry data on house price inflation.
During European morning trade, the dollar was lower against the euro, with EUR/USD adding 0.07% to hit 1.3367.
The euro fell earlier after a Gfk report showed that an index of consumer climate for Germany fell unexpectedly in March, ticking down to 5.9 from 6.0 the previous month.
Analysts had expected the index to rise to 6.2 in March.
Investors also remained cautious as concerns over high Spanish borrowing costs persisted ahead of the government’s budget statement on Friday.
Meanwhile, euro zone finance ministers were to meet Friday to discuss how to increase the size of the region’s bailout fund in order to prevent debt contagion.
The greenback was also lower against the pound, with GBP/USD edging up 0.04% to hit 1.5977.
Bank of England policymaker David Miles said Monday that economic growth has stalled in the past six months, fuelling concerns that the central bank may resort to a fresh round of monetary easing to shore up the economy.
The greenback was fractionally lower against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY retreating 0.13% to hit 82.72 and USD/CHF edging down 0.09% to hit 0.9022.
Elsewhere, the greenback was steady against its Canadian counterpart and lower against its Australian and New Zealand cousins, with USD/CAD easing 0.01% to hit 0.9909, AUD/USD rising 0.06% to hit 1.0538 and NZD/USD advancing 0.22% to hit 0.8250.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, fell 0.11% to hit 79.02.
Later Tuesday, the U.S. was to release a close watched report on consumer confidence, as well as industry data on house price inflation.