Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was trading in a narrow range against the other major currencies on Tuesday, as markets digested Moody’s decision to downgrade France and investors looked ahead to an upcoming meeting of euro zone finance ministers to discuss a delayed aid installment for Greece.
During European morning trade, the dollar was almost unchanged against the euro, with EUR/USD dipping 0.02% to 1.2811.
The euro remained supported ahead of a meeting of euro zone finance ministers later in the session to discuss whether Greece can receive its next installment of bailout funds.
The single currency touched session lows against the greenback earlier after ratings agency Moody’s downgraded France by one notch to Aa1 from Aaa with a negative outlook overnight, citing a deteriorating growth outlook for the euro zone’s second-largest economy.
Elsewhere, Spain successfully auctioned EUR5 billion of short term government bonds at lower borrowing costs.
The greenback was slightly lower against the pound, with GBP/USD easing up 0.11% to 1.5925.
Elsewhere, the greenback was trading just below a seven-month high against the yen, with USD/JPY dipping 0.09% to 81.33 and edged higher against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF easing up 0.08% to 0.9406.
The Bank of Japan kept the size of its asset purchase program unchanged at JPY91 trillion following its policy-setting meeting on Tuesday, in a widely expected decision, after easing policy in September and October.
The yen remained under pressure amid expectations that elections on December 16 will result in growing political pressure on the BoJ to implement more aggressive monetary easing measures.
The greenback pushed higher against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD edging up 0.05% to 0.9968, AUD/USD slipping 0.14% to 1.0397 and NZD/USD down 0.34% to 0.8172.
Earlier Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of Australia indicated that it may cut interest rates further next month.
In the minutes of its November 6 policy meeting, the RBA said “further easing may be appropriate in the period ahead”.
Demand for the Australian dollar continued to be underpinned after the International Monetary Fund late Monday that it is looking at classifying it and the Canadian dollar in its official currency reserves.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, inched up 0.02% to 80.91.
Later Tuesday, the U.S. was to publish official data on building permits and housing starts, while Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was to speak at an event in New York.
During European morning trade, the dollar was almost unchanged against the euro, with EUR/USD dipping 0.02% to 1.2811.
The euro remained supported ahead of a meeting of euro zone finance ministers later in the session to discuss whether Greece can receive its next installment of bailout funds.
The single currency touched session lows against the greenback earlier after ratings agency Moody’s downgraded France by one notch to Aa1 from Aaa with a negative outlook overnight, citing a deteriorating growth outlook for the euro zone’s second-largest economy.
Elsewhere, Spain successfully auctioned EUR5 billion of short term government bonds at lower borrowing costs.
The greenback was slightly lower against the pound, with GBP/USD easing up 0.11% to 1.5925.
Elsewhere, the greenback was trading just below a seven-month high against the yen, with USD/JPY dipping 0.09% to 81.33 and edged higher against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF easing up 0.08% to 0.9406.
The Bank of Japan kept the size of its asset purchase program unchanged at JPY91 trillion following its policy-setting meeting on Tuesday, in a widely expected decision, after easing policy in September and October.
The yen remained under pressure amid expectations that elections on December 16 will result in growing political pressure on the BoJ to implement more aggressive monetary easing measures.
The greenback pushed higher against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD edging up 0.05% to 0.9968, AUD/USD slipping 0.14% to 1.0397 and NZD/USD down 0.34% to 0.8172.
Earlier Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of Australia indicated that it may cut interest rates further next month.
In the minutes of its November 6 policy meeting, the RBA said “further easing may be appropriate in the period ahead”.
Demand for the Australian dollar continued to be underpinned after the International Monetary Fund late Monday that it is looking at classifying it and the Canadian dollar in its official currency reserves.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, inched up 0.02% to 80.91.
Later Tuesday, the U.S. was to publish official data on building permits and housing starts, while Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was to speak at an event in New York.