Investing.com - The U.S. dollar firmed up against the other major currencies on Wednesday, following data showing that U.S. pending home sales rose to the highest level since April 2010 in July and a separate report showing that U.S. second quarter growth was revised up.
During U.S. morning trade, the dollar rose to a session high against the euro, with EUR/USD falling 0.30% to 1.2526.
The National Association of Realtors said its pending home sales index rose by 2.4% in July, easily surpassing expectations for a 1.0% increase.
Year-on-year, pending home sales rose at rate of 15.0% in July, beating expectations for an 11.1% increase, after rising by 8.4% in June.
Earlier Wednesday, the U.S. Commerce Department said gross domestic product increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.7% in the three months to June, in line with expectations and up from a preliminary estimate of 1.5%.
Demand for the single currency continued to be underpinned by expectations that the European Central Bank is working on measures to help stabilize the euro zone's sovereign debt markets, ahead of its next policy meeting on September 6.
Italy saw borrowing costs decline to the lowest level since March earlier Wednesday, as it auctioned EUR9 billion of six-month government bonds, reflecting investor confidence that the ECB will soon act to lower high euro zone peripheral bond yields.
The greenback was slightly lower against the pound, with GBP/USD easing up 0.09% to 1.5832.
Elsewhere, the greenback touched session highs against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY rising 0.31% to 78.75 and USD/CHF rising 0.31% to trade at 0.9587.
The greenback was mixed against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD slipping 0.07% to 0.9876, AUD/USD inching down 0.06% to trade at 1.0369 and NZD/USD down 0.21% to 0.8028.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.28% to 81.58.
Investors were continuing to look ahead to a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke at the central bank’s annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming on Friday, amid ongoing speculation over how close the Fed is to implementing more stimulus measures.
During U.S. morning trade, the dollar rose to a session high against the euro, with EUR/USD falling 0.30% to 1.2526.
The National Association of Realtors said its pending home sales index rose by 2.4% in July, easily surpassing expectations for a 1.0% increase.
Year-on-year, pending home sales rose at rate of 15.0% in July, beating expectations for an 11.1% increase, after rising by 8.4% in June.
Earlier Wednesday, the U.S. Commerce Department said gross domestic product increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.7% in the three months to June, in line with expectations and up from a preliminary estimate of 1.5%.
Demand for the single currency continued to be underpinned by expectations that the European Central Bank is working on measures to help stabilize the euro zone's sovereign debt markets, ahead of its next policy meeting on September 6.
Italy saw borrowing costs decline to the lowest level since March earlier Wednesday, as it auctioned EUR9 billion of six-month government bonds, reflecting investor confidence that the ECB will soon act to lower high euro zone peripheral bond yields.
The greenback was slightly lower against the pound, with GBP/USD easing up 0.09% to 1.5832.
Elsewhere, the greenback touched session highs against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY rising 0.31% to 78.75 and USD/CHF rising 0.31% to trade at 0.9587.
The greenback was mixed against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD slipping 0.07% to 0.9876, AUD/USD inching down 0.06% to trade at 1.0369 and NZD/USD down 0.21% to 0.8028.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.28% to 81.58.
Investors were continuing to look ahead to a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke at the central bank’s annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming on Friday, amid ongoing speculation over how close the Fed is to implementing more stimulus measures.