Investing.com - The dollar traded mixed to lower against most major currencies on Wednesday after data revealed that new home sales in March came in worse than expected, while solid factory data out of Europe boosted demand for the euro, which came at the greenback's expense.
In U.S. trading on Wednesday, EUR/USD was up 0.09% at 1.3818.
The euro zone manufacturing purchasing managers’ index rose to 53.3 this month from 53.0 in March, according to Markit Economics, beating expectations for an unchanged reading.
The bloc’s services PMI rose to 53.1 from 52.2 the previous month, better then forecasts for a 52.4 reading.
The recovery in Germany, the euro zone’s largest economy accelerated this month, with activity in both the manufacturing and service sector strengthening, but growth in the French private sector lost momentum.
Capping the single currency's advance and giving the dollar some support was uncertainty over European monetary policy.
ECB President Mario Draghi has warned that further gains in the euro would trigger additional monetary easing to keep inflation rates in comfort zones.
The annual rate of euro zone inflation slowed to 0.5% in March, the lowest since November 2009.
On Thursday, Draghi is due to speak in Amsterdam, and markets remained in standby mode ahead of then.
Meanwhile in the U.S., the Commerce Department reported earlier that sales of new homes in the U.S. fell to the lowest level since July 2013 in March.
Sales on new homes dropped 14.5% to a seasonally adjusted rate of 384,000, lower than analysts' forecasts for a sales rate of 450,000.
The dollar was down against the yen, with USD/JPY down 0.17% at 102.44, and down against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF down 0.21% at 0.8831.
The greenback was up against the pound, with GBP/USD down 0.26% at 1.6780.
The dollar was up against its cousins in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with USD/CAD up 0.06% at 1.1034, AUD/USD down 0.91% at 0.9281 and NZD/USD down 0.26% at 0.8582.
The US dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.05% at 79.94.
On Thursday, the U.S. is to publish data on durable goods orders and the weekly report on initial jobless claims.