Investing.com - The dollar was mixed against a basket of other major currencies on Wednesday, as investors awaited the release of U.S. economic reports and the Federal Reserve's policy statement due later in the day.
The dollar came under pressure after the U.S. Conference Board said on Tuesday that its index of consumer confidence fell to 95.2 this month from a reading of 101.4 in March.
The report added to a recent string of disappointing data which has prompted investors to scale back expectations on the timing of a first rate hike by the U.S. central bank.
Investors were looking ahead to preliminary data on first quarter U.S. economic growth and a report on pending home sales later in the day for further indications on the strength of the recovery, ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy announcement.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.11% to 96.08.
EUR/USD edged up 0.17% to 1.1000.
The euro found support amid optimism that Greece is moving closer to reaching an agreement with its creditors on a package of economic reforms for bailout funds.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Monday reshuffled the team handling talks with the country’s international lenders fuelling hopes that a deal can be reached in time to avert a default.
The pound was also higher, with GBP/USD up 0.11% to a nearly two-month peak of 1.5353.
The Nationwide Building Society earlier reported that its U.K. house price index rose 1.0% this month, exceeding expectations for a 0.2% uptick, after a 0.1% gain in March.
Investors were also eyeing the outcome of the upcoming U.K. general elections on May 7, which could result in a hung parliament and an unstable coalition government, which could act as a drag on growth.
Elsewhere, the dollar was higher against the yen, with USD/JPY up 0.40% to 119.32 and steady against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF at 0.9552.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were weaker, with AUD/USD dropping 0.55% to 0.7978 and NZD/USD declining 0.56% to 0.7674.
Statistics New Zealand earlier reported that the country's trade surplus widened to NZ$631 million in March from NZ$50 million the previous month. Analysts had expected the trade surplus to widen to NZ$341 million last month.
A separate report showed that the ANZ business confidence index for New Zealand slipped to 30.2 this month from 35.8 in March.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD rose 0.33% to trade at 1.2072.