Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was mixed to lower against its major counterparts on Tuesday, ahead of U.S. economic reports, as investors awaited a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke later in the week amid hopes for fresh easing measures to bolster growth.
During European morning trade, the dollar was lower against the euro, with EUR/USD adding 0.23% to 1.2526.
The euro found some support after research group Gfk said that its index of Germany’s consumer climate remained unchanged at 5.9 in August, in line with expectations.
Gains were limited however, as expectations for imminent action by the European Central Bank to stem the debt crisis in the euro zone began to fade.
The ECB is expected to announce policy measures to help stabilize the euro zone's sovereign debt markets at its next policy meeting on September 6, but is not expected to begin implementing the measures until at least late September.
Meanwhile, market participants were looking ahead to a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke at an annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Friday, amid ongoing speculation over how close the U.S. central bank is to implementing more stimulus measures.
The greenback was higher against the pound, with GBP/USD edging down 0.12% to 1.5777.
Elsewhere, the greenback was lower against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY falling 0.22% to hit 78.56, and USD/CHF declining 0.21% to trade at 0.9589.
Earlier in the day, the Japanese government cut its view of the economy for the first time in 10 months, as slowing exports weighed on production and consumer spending failed to expand.
In its monthly economic report, Japan’s government said earlier that the economy is "on the way to recovery at a moderate pace" but added that "weak movements have been seen recently."
Meanwhile, official data showed that the employment level in Switzerland rose to 4.07 million jobs in the second quarter from 4.05 million in the previous quarter, beating expectations for a rise to 4.06 million.
The greenback was mixed against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD slipping 0.08% to 0.9900, AUD/USD edging 0.08% higher to 1.0377 and NZD/USD falling 0.17% to trade at 0.8073.
In Australia, industry data showed that new home sales fell 5.6% in July, after a 2.8% increase the previous month.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.19% to 81.56.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release a report on consumer confidence, a leading indicator of economic health, as well as industry data on house price inflation.
During European morning trade, the dollar was lower against the euro, with EUR/USD adding 0.23% to 1.2526.
The euro found some support after research group Gfk said that its index of Germany’s consumer climate remained unchanged at 5.9 in August, in line with expectations.
Gains were limited however, as expectations for imminent action by the European Central Bank to stem the debt crisis in the euro zone began to fade.
The ECB is expected to announce policy measures to help stabilize the euro zone's sovereign debt markets at its next policy meeting on September 6, but is not expected to begin implementing the measures until at least late September.
Meanwhile, market participants were looking ahead to a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke at an annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Friday, amid ongoing speculation over how close the U.S. central bank is to implementing more stimulus measures.
The greenback was higher against the pound, with GBP/USD edging down 0.12% to 1.5777.
Elsewhere, the greenback was lower against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY falling 0.22% to hit 78.56, and USD/CHF declining 0.21% to trade at 0.9589.
Earlier in the day, the Japanese government cut its view of the economy for the first time in 10 months, as slowing exports weighed on production and consumer spending failed to expand.
In its monthly economic report, Japan’s government said earlier that the economy is "on the way to recovery at a moderate pace" but added that "weak movements have been seen recently."
Meanwhile, official data showed that the employment level in Switzerland rose to 4.07 million jobs in the second quarter from 4.05 million in the previous quarter, beating expectations for a rise to 4.06 million.
The greenback was mixed against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD slipping 0.08% to 0.9900, AUD/USD edging 0.08% higher to 1.0377 and NZD/USD falling 0.17% to trade at 0.8073.
In Australia, industry data showed that new home sales fell 5.6% in July, after a 2.8% increase the previous month.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.19% to 81.56.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release a report on consumer confidence, a leading indicator of economic health, as well as industry data on house price inflation.