Investing.com - The dollar pushed higher against the other major currencies on Wednesday, as the release of strong U.S. employment and trade balance data boosted optimism over the strength of the economy.
The dollar was higher against the yen, with USD/JPY up 0.26% at 121.38.
Payroll processing firm ADP reported on Wednesday that U.S. non-farm private employment rose by 182,000 last month, above expectations for an increase of 180,000.
The economy created 190,000 jobs in September, whose figure was downwardly revised from a previously reported increase of 200,000.
Separately, the U.S. Commerce Department said that the trade deficit declined to $40.81 billion in September from $48.02 billion in August, whose figure was revised from a previously reported deficit of $48.3 billion.
Analysts had expected the U.S. trade deficit to narrow to $41.1 billion in September.
EUR/USD slid 0.50% to trade at 1.0909.
The euro came under pressure after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi signaled the possibility for additional easing measures.
Draghi said policymakers would re-examine the degree of monetary stimulus already deployed at their December meeting and reiterated that they remained willing and able to act to bolster price growth in the euro area.
Elsewhere, the dollar was higher against the pound, with GBP/USD down 0.18% at 1.5395 and was steady against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF at 0.9909.
Sterling found some support after market research group Markit its U.K. services purchasing managers index increased to 54.9 last month from a reading of 53.3 in September. Analysts had expected the index to rise to 54.5 in October.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were weaker, with AUD/USD down 0.24% at 0.7169 and with NZD/USD tumbling 0.96% to 0.6601.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday that retail sales rose 0.4% in September, in line with expectations and after a 0.4% gain the previous month.
A separate report showed that Australia's trade deficit narrowed to A$2.317 billion in September from A$2.711 billion in August, compared to expectations for a deficit of A$3.000 billion.
At the same time, Statistics New Zealand reported that the number of employed people declined by 0.4% in the third quarter, confounding expectations for a 0.4% rise.
The report also showed that New Zealand's unemployment rate ticked up to 6.0% in the three months to September from 5.9% in the second quarter, in line with expectations.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD edged up 0.10% to trade at 1.3073 after Statistics Canada said the trade deficit narrowed to C$1.73 billion in September from C$2.66 billion in August, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated deficit of C$2.53 billion.
Analysts had expected the trade deficit to narrow to C$1.90 billion in September.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.41% at 97.64, the highest level since October 29.