Investing.com - The U.S. dollar remained lower against its major counterparts on Thursday, as hopes for progress in resolving Greece’s political deadlock supported demand for riskier assets although concerns over the handling of the country’s debt crisis persisted.
During U.S. morning trade, the dollar was lower against the euro, with EUR/USD adding 0.30% to hit 1.2966.
The euro found support amid hopes Greek Socialist leader Evangelos Venizelos would manage to form a government on Thursday, after saying he would approach all political party leaders and try to get New Democracy, Syriza and Democratic Left to form a pro-European national unity government.
On Wednesday, Alexis Tsipras, the head of Greece’s second-biggest party Syriza, gave up his attempt to form a new government, pushing the debt-stricken country closer to its second election in a few weeks.
Investors were jittery earlier after the European Central Bank cut its 2012 gross domestic product growth outlook to minus 0.2% from minus 0.1%, in its monthly report published earlier, as downside risks remain to the economic outlook.
The greenback was also lower against the pound, with GBP/USD rising 0.20% to hit 1.6159.
Sterling found support after a report by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research suggested that gross domestic product in the U.K. grew by 0.1% in the three months ending in April after declining by 0.2% in the three months ending in March.
Earlier in the day, the Bank of England kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a record low of 0.5%, in a widely expected move and announced no change to the size of its asset purchase facility which stands at GBP325 billion, following a GBP50 billion increase in February.
The announcement came after stronger-than-expected U.K. manufacturing production data, which showed the first increase in three months.
Elsewhere, the greenback was higher against the yen but lower against the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY advancing 0.35% to hit 79.93 and USD/CHF retreating 0.26% to hit 0.9266.
The yen slightly weakened earlier after Bank of Japan policymaker Sayuri Shirai said the central bank will not rule out any policy options to deal with Japan’s current economic outlook, signaling the possibility of further easing measures.
The greenback was lower against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD declining 0.22% to hit 1.0004, AUD/USD climbing 0.75% to hit 1.0124 and NZD/USD advancing 0.46% to hit 0.7876.
The Australian dollar rallied earlier after official data showed that Australia’s unemployment rate fell unexpectedly to 4.9% from 5.2% in March. Analysts had expected the unemployment rate to rise to 5.3% in April.
Commodity-related currencies remained under pressure however, after data showed that Chinese exports and imports in April were well below analysts’ expectations.
In a report, the Customs General Administration of China said the nation’s trade surplus widened to USD18.42 billion in April from USD5.35 in the previous month.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.10%, at 80.16.
During U.S. morning trade, the dollar was lower against the euro, with EUR/USD adding 0.30% to hit 1.2966.
The euro found support amid hopes Greek Socialist leader Evangelos Venizelos would manage to form a government on Thursday, after saying he would approach all political party leaders and try to get New Democracy, Syriza and Democratic Left to form a pro-European national unity government.
On Wednesday, Alexis Tsipras, the head of Greece’s second-biggest party Syriza, gave up his attempt to form a new government, pushing the debt-stricken country closer to its second election in a few weeks.
Investors were jittery earlier after the European Central Bank cut its 2012 gross domestic product growth outlook to minus 0.2% from minus 0.1%, in its monthly report published earlier, as downside risks remain to the economic outlook.
The greenback was also lower against the pound, with GBP/USD rising 0.20% to hit 1.6159.
Sterling found support after a report by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research suggested that gross domestic product in the U.K. grew by 0.1% in the three months ending in April after declining by 0.2% in the three months ending in March.
Earlier in the day, the Bank of England kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a record low of 0.5%, in a widely expected move and announced no change to the size of its asset purchase facility which stands at GBP325 billion, following a GBP50 billion increase in February.
The announcement came after stronger-than-expected U.K. manufacturing production data, which showed the first increase in three months.
Elsewhere, the greenback was higher against the yen but lower against the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY advancing 0.35% to hit 79.93 and USD/CHF retreating 0.26% to hit 0.9266.
The yen slightly weakened earlier after Bank of Japan policymaker Sayuri Shirai said the central bank will not rule out any policy options to deal with Japan’s current economic outlook, signaling the possibility of further easing measures.
The greenback was lower against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD declining 0.22% to hit 1.0004, AUD/USD climbing 0.75% to hit 1.0124 and NZD/USD advancing 0.46% to hit 0.7876.
The Australian dollar rallied earlier after official data showed that Australia’s unemployment rate fell unexpectedly to 4.9% from 5.2% in March. Analysts had expected the unemployment rate to rise to 5.3% in April.
Commodity-related currencies remained under pressure however, after data showed that Chinese exports and imports in April were well below analysts’ expectations.
In a report, the Customs General Administration of China said the nation’s trade surplus widened to USD18.42 billion in April from USD5.35 in the previous month.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.10%, at 80.16.