Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was steady to higher against its major counterparts on Wednesday, as markets eyed the release of U.S. gross domestic product data later in the day, as well as a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Friday.
During European morning trade, the dollar was steady against the euro, with EUR/USD easing up 0.02% to 1.2568.
Sentiment on the euro remained vulnerable after data on Tuesday showed that the Spanish economy fell deeper into recession in the second quarter and the country's most economically important region, Catalonia, said it needed a major rescue from Madrid.
The data came after the European Central Bank said that its President Mario Draghi would not be attending an annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Friday, due to his "heavy workload" in the next few days.
The unexpected announcement fuelled expectations that the ECB is working on policy measures to help stabilize the euro zone's sovereign debt markets, ahead of its next policy meeting on September 6.
The ECB president had been due to speak at the summit on Saturday, one day after a keenly anticipated speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, amid ongoing speculation over how close the U.S. central bank is to implementing more stimulus measures.
The greenback was also steady against the pound, with GBP/USD edging up 0.02% to 1.5821.
Elsewhere, the greenback was flat against the yen and almost unchanged against the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY trading at 78.50, and USD/CHF inching down 0.01% to trade at 0.9557.
The greenback was higher against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD adding 0.03% to 0.9886, AUD/USD edging 0.12% lower to 1.0364 and NZD/USD falling 0.27% to trade at 0.8024.
In Australia, official data showed earlier that construction work done fell 0.2% in the second quarter, following a 7.8% increase the previous quarter and compared to expectations for a 1% rise.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.04% to 81.39.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to produce revised data on second quarter gross domestic product, followed by an industry report on pending home sales.
During European morning trade, the dollar was steady against the euro, with EUR/USD easing up 0.02% to 1.2568.
Sentiment on the euro remained vulnerable after data on Tuesday showed that the Spanish economy fell deeper into recession in the second quarter and the country's most economically important region, Catalonia, said it needed a major rescue from Madrid.
The data came after the European Central Bank said that its President Mario Draghi would not be attending an annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Friday, due to his "heavy workload" in the next few days.
The unexpected announcement fuelled expectations that the ECB is working on policy measures to help stabilize the euro zone's sovereign debt markets, ahead of its next policy meeting on September 6.
The ECB president had been due to speak at the summit on Saturday, one day after a keenly anticipated speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, amid ongoing speculation over how close the U.S. central bank is to implementing more stimulus measures.
The greenback was also steady against the pound, with GBP/USD edging up 0.02% to 1.5821.
Elsewhere, the greenback was flat against the yen and almost unchanged against the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY trading at 78.50, and USD/CHF inching down 0.01% to trade at 0.9557.
The greenback was higher against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD adding 0.03% to 0.9886, AUD/USD edging 0.12% lower to 1.0364 and NZD/USD falling 0.27% to trade at 0.8024.
In Australia, official data showed earlier that construction work done fell 0.2% in the second quarter, following a 7.8% increase the previous quarter and compared to expectations for a 1% rise.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.04% to 81.39.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to produce revised data on second quarter gross domestic product, followed by an industry report on pending home sales.