Investing.com – The U.S. dollar was down against most of its major counterparts on Wednesday, as the euro rallied ahead of an expected rate hike by the European Central Bank and the yen struggled with the Bank of Japan looking set to lag other central banks in tightening policy.
During U.S. morning trade, the greenback was sharply lower against the euro, with EUR/USD rallying 0.80% to hit 1.4335.
The ECB was widely expected to raise interest rates from a record low of 1.0% to 1.25% on Thursday, tightening policy for the first time since October 2008.
The greenback was also lower against the pound, with GBP/USD easing up 0.13% to hit 1.6317.
Earlier in the day, official data showed that manufacturing production in the U.K. was flat in February, while industrial production declined unexpectedly.
Elsewhere, the greenback was higher against the yen but sharply lower against the Swiss franc with USD/JPY surging 0.68% to hit 85.45 and USD/CHF tumbling 0.87% to hit 0.9172.
Earlier Wednesday, government data showed that consumer price inflation in Switzerland rose more-than-expected in March, fanning expectations that the Swiss National Bank would move to tighten policy.
In addition, the greenback was lower against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD shedding 0.66% to hit 0.9572, AUD/USD jumping 1.12% to hit 1.0444 and NZD/USD leaping 1.56% to hit 0.7803.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.51%.
On Tuesday, the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s March policy meeting indicated that policymakers believed the U.S. economic recovery was gaining momentum but highlighted the potential negative impact of rapidly rising commodity prices on inflation expectations, consumer spending and business investment.
During U.S. morning trade, the greenback was sharply lower against the euro, with EUR/USD rallying 0.80% to hit 1.4335.
The ECB was widely expected to raise interest rates from a record low of 1.0% to 1.25% on Thursday, tightening policy for the first time since October 2008.
The greenback was also lower against the pound, with GBP/USD easing up 0.13% to hit 1.6317.
Earlier in the day, official data showed that manufacturing production in the U.K. was flat in February, while industrial production declined unexpectedly.
Elsewhere, the greenback was higher against the yen but sharply lower against the Swiss franc with USD/JPY surging 0.68% to hit 85.45 and USD/CHF tumbling 0.87% to hit 0.9172.
Earlier Wednesday, government data showed that consumer price inflation in Switzerland rose more-than-expected in March, fanning expectations that the Swiss National Bank would move to tighten policy.
In addition, the greenback was lower against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD shedding 0.66% to hit 0.9572, AUD/USD jumping 1.12% to hit 1.0444 and NZD/USD leaping 1.56% to hit 0.7803.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.51%.
On Tuesday, the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s March policy meeting indicated that policymakers believed the U.S. economic recovery was gaining momentum but highlighted the potential negative impact of rapidly rising commodity prices on inflation expectations, consumer spending and business investment.