Investing.com – The U.S. dollar was down against almost all of its major counterparts on Wednesday, as sentiment was boosted by reports that European Union leaders were to discuss plans to expand the bailout fund for indebted euro-zone countries.
During European morning trade, the greenback was down against the euro, with EUR/USD rising 0.25% to hit 1.3005.
Portugal was scheduled to auction up to EUR1.25 billion worth of debt later Wednesday.
The greenback was also down against sterling with GBP/USD climbing 0.27% to hit 1.564.
Elsewhere, the greenback was down against the yen but up against the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY slipping 0.15% to hit 83.11 and USD/CHF edging up 0.02% to hit 0.9739.
Earlier in the day, official data showed that Japan's current account surplus shrank for the first time in three months in November while separate data from the Bank of Japan showed lending by banks fell 2.1% in December from a year earlier.
Meanwhile, the greenback was down against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD sliding 0.24% to hit 0.9878, AUD/USD gaining 0.35% to hit 0.9906 and NZD/USD easing up 0.02% to hit 0.7605.
Earlier, official data showed that Australian home-loan approvals unexpectedly rose in November, reaching the highest level of 2010.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.21%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish a flurry of data, with reports on import prices and the federal budget balance while the Federal Reserve was to publish its Beige Book.
During European morning trade, the greenback was down against the euro, with EUR/USD rising 0.25% to hit 1.3005.
Portugal was scheduled to auction up to EUR1.25 billion worth of debt later Wednesday.
The greenback was also down against sterling with GBP/USD climbing 0.27% to hit 1.564.
Elsewhere, the greenback was down against the yen but up against the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY slipping 0.15% to hit 83.11 and USD/CHF edging up 0.02% to hit 0.9739.
Earlier in the day, official data showed that Japan's current account surplus shrank for the first time in three months in November while separate data from the Bank of Japan showed lending by banks fell 2.1% in December from a year earlier.
Meanwhile, the greenback was down against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD sliding 0.24% to hit 0.9878, AUD/USD gaining 0.35% to hit 0.9906 and NZD/USD easing up 0.02% to hit 0.7605.
Earlier, official data showed that Australian home-loan approvals unexpectedly rose in November, reaching the highest level of 2010.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.21%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish a flurry of data, with reports on import prices and the federal budget balance while the Federal Reserve was to publish its Beige Book.