Investing.com - The euro came under pressure against most of its major counterparts on Thursday, after Spain saw borrowing costs rise at a government debt auction earlier in the day.
Market players were also awaiting monetary policy decisions from the European Central Bank and the Bank of England later in the day.
During European late morning trade, the euro was weaker against the U.S. dollar, with EUR/USD slipping 0.19% to 1.2503.
The single currency came under pressure after Spain sold at auction EUR2.997 billion of government bonds, in line with the full targeted amount of EUR3 billion, but at higher yields from last month.
The country sold EUR747 million of ten-year debt at an average yield of 6.43% earlier in the day, up from 6.044% at a similar auction last month.
The yield on Spanish 10-year bonds rose to 6.53% following the auction, re-approaching the critical 7%-level deemed as unsustainable in the long-term.
Meanwhile, the ECB was widely expected to announce an interest rate cut to 0.75% from the current record low 1.00% to help bolster growth in the region, following a recent string of weak economic data.
The ECB rate announcement was to be followed by a press conference with central bank head Mario Draghi to outline the reasons for the monetary policy decision and discuss the economic outlook for the euro area.
The euro was also lower against the pound, with EUR/GBP losing 0.11% to trade at 0.8027.
Investors were also looking ahead to the BoE’s policy meeting later Thursday, amid growing expectations for a fresh round of stimulus measures to shield the recession hit U.K. economy from the ongoing debt crisis in the euro zone.
The single currency edged lower against the yen, with EUR/JPY shedding 0.4% to trade at 99.68, but remained little changed against the Swiss franc, with EUR/CHF inching up 0.03% to 1.2016.
Elsewhere, the euro was broadly lower against the Canadian, Australian and New Zealand dollars, with EUR/CAD slipping 0.2% to hit 1.2669, EUR/AUD down 0.18% to hit 1.2171 and EUR/NZD falling 0.18% to 1.5563.
Later in the session, Germany was to produce official data on factory orders.
The U.S. was to publish a report by payroll processing firm ADP on non-farm employment change, followed by government data on unemployment claims. In addition, the Institute of Supply Management was to release a report on U.S. service sector activity.
Markets were also eyeing Friday’s U.S. nonfarm payrolls report, amid speculation that the Federal Reserve could implement a third round of quantitative easing to shore up the economy, which has been hit by the ongoing crisis in the euro zone.
Market players were also awaiting monetary policy decisions from the European Central Bank and the Bank of England later in the day.
During European late morning trade, the euro was weaker against the U.S. dollar, with EUR/USD slipping 0.19% to 1.2503.
The single currency came under pressure after Spain sold at auction EUR2.997 billion of government bonds, in line with the full targeted amount of EUR3 billion, but at higher yields from last month.
The country sold EUR747 million of ten-year debt at an average yield of 6.43% earlier in the day, up from 6.044% at a similar auction last month.
The yield on Spanish 10-year bonds rose to 6.53% following the auction, re-approaching the critical 7%-level deemed as unsustainable in the long-term.
Meanwhile, the ECB was widely expected to announce an interest rate cut to 0.75% from the current record low 1.00% to help bolster growth in the region, following a recent string of weak economic data.
The ECB rate announcement was to be followed by a press conference with central bank head Mario Draghi to outline the reasons for the monetary policy decision and discuss the economic outlook for the euro area.
The euro was also lower against the pound, with EUR/GBP losing 0.11% to trade at 0.8027.
Investors were also looking ahead to the BoE’s policy meeting later Thursday, amid growing expectations for a fresh round of stimulus measures to shield the recession hit U.K. economy from the ongoing debt crisis in the euro zone.
The single currency edged lower against the yen, with EUR/JPY shedding 0.4% to trade at 99.68, but remained little changed against the Swiss franc, with EUR/CHF inching up 0.03% to 1.2016.
Elsewhere, the euro was broadly lower against the Canadian, Australian and New Zealand dollars, with EUR/CAD slipping 0.2% to hit 1.2669, EUR/AUD down 0.18% to hit 1.2171 and EUR/NZD falling 0.18% to 1.5563.
Later in the session, Germany was to produce official data on factory orders.
The U.S. was to publish a report by payroll processing firm ADP on non-farm employment change, followed by government data on unemployment claims. In addition, the Institute of Supply Management was to release a report on U.S. service sector activity.
Markets were also eyeing Friday’s U.S. nonfarm payrolls report, amid speculation that the Federal Reserve could implement a third round of quantitative easing to shore up the economy, which has been hit by the ongoing crisis in the euro zone.