Investing.com - The U.S. dollar remained higher against its major counterparts on Wednesday, as disappointing euro zone data weighed on market sentiment while concerns over Greece’s financial woes persisted.
During European afternoon trade, the dollar was up against the euro, with EUR/USD edging 0.04% lower to hit 1.3228.
The euro was hit after preliminary data showed earlier that manufacturing activity in the euro zone improved less-than-expected in February, remaining in contraction territory for the seventh consecutive month, while service sector activity in the euro zone unexpectedly contracted.
Meanwhile, investors remained cautious amid uncertainty over whether Greece can follow through with fiscal reforms after euro zone finance ministers signed off on a EUR130 billion rescue package on Tuesday.
Sentiment also weakened after Fitch ratings agency downgraded Greece by three notches to ‘high default risk’. Fitch considers that the proposal to reduce Greece’s public debt burden via a debt exchange with private creditors will, if completed, constitute a rating default.
The greenback was sharply higher against the pound, with GBP/USD shedding 0.70% to hit 1.5668.
The pound’s losses came after the minutes of the Bank of England’s February policy-setting meeting showed that two members of the BoE’s monetary policy committee wanted to increase the size of the bank’s asset purchase program by GBP75 billion.
Instead, policymakers voted to add another GBP50 billion to the central bank’s asset purchase program.
The greenback was higher against yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY climbing 0.72% to hit 80.32 and USD/CHF adding 0.03%, to hit 0.9129.
A senior official at Japan's Ministry of Finance said earlier that the yen's weakening was due to last week's decision by the Bank of Japan to increase the size of its asset-purchase program to JPY30 trillion. He added that the government will continue to monitor currency moves and respond as appropriate.
Elsewhere, the greenback was higher against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD rising 0.38% to hit 1.0006, AUD/USD falling 0.43% to hit 1.0616 and NZD/USD sliding 0.68% to hit 0.8283.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, rose 0.27% to hit 79.38.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish industry data on existing home sales.
During European afternoon trade, the dollar was up against the euro, with EUR/USD edging 0.04% lower to hit 1.3228.
The euro was hit after preliminary data showed earlier that manufacturing activity in the euro zone improved less-than-expected in February, remaining in contraction territory for the seventh consecutive month, while service sector activity in the euro zone unexpectedly contracted.
Meanwhile, investors remained cautious amid uncertainty over whether Greece can follow through with fiscal reforms after euro zone finance ministers signed off on a EUR130 billion rescue package on Tuesday.
Sentiment also weakened after Fitch ratings agency downgraded Greece by three notches to ‘high default risk’. Fitch considers that the proposal to reduce Greece’s public debt burden via a debt exchange with private creditors will, if completed, constitute a rating default.
The greenback was sharply higher against the pound, with GBP/USD shedding 0.70% to hit 1.5668.
The pound’s losses came after the minutes of the Bank of England’s February policy-setting meeting showed that two members of the BoE’s monetary policy committee wanted to increase the size of the bank’s asset purchase program by GBP75 billion.
Instead, policymakers voted to add another GBP50 billion to the central bank’s asset purchase program.
The greenback was higher against yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY climbing 0.72% to hit 80.32 and USD/CHF adding 0.03%, to hit 0.9129.
A senior official at Japan's Ministry of Finance said earlier that the yen's weakening was due to last week's decision by the Bank of Japan to increase the size of its asset-purchase program to JPY30 trillion. He added that the government will continue to monitor currency moves and respond as appropriate.
Elsewhere, the greenback was higher against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD rising 0.38% to hit 1.0006, AUD/USD falling 0.43% to hit 1.0616 and NZD/USD sliding 0.68% to hit 0.8283.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, rose 0.27% to hit 79.38.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish industry data on existing home sales.