Investing.com - The dollar rose against most major currencies on Wednesday after investors sought out the safe and liquid greenback to await official news over a Spanish bailout.
Concerns retail sales in Europe due out later may disappoint sparked demand for the dollar as well.
In Asian trading on Wednesday, EUR/USD was down 0.09% at 1.2907.
A Reuters report that Spain may request a bailout in the coming days bolstered the euro early, even though Germany was reportedly urging Madrid to hold off.
A bailout could open the door for the European Central Bank to buy sovereign Spanish debt carrying maturities of up to three years, which would lower borrowing costs in the crisis-weary country.
Yet until Spain requests a bailout or rejects plans to do so, uncertainty will keep the currency moving up and down in choppy trading, as was the case on Wednesday.
European policymakers are due to hold a summit later this month, and anticipation of announcements concerning Spain and other crisis-related issues moved the euro up and down against safe-haven currencies such as the dollar.
Later Wednesday, the eurozone will release retail sales figures, and concerns the data may disappoint sent the euro and other higher-yielding dipping against the greenback as did a Reserve Bank of Australia decision to cut benchmark interest rates to by 25 basis points to 3.25%.
Meanwhile in the U.S., payroll processor ADP will release its September report on private-sector hiring on Thursday while on Friday, the U.S. Department of Labor will release the country's official September jobs report.
Uncertainty over the health of the U.S. labor market sent investors to the greenback as well.
However, the Federal Reserve is currently running a third round of quantitative easing, a monetary stimulus tool that sees the U.S. central bank buying USD40 billion in mortgage-backed securities a month to spur recovery.
Such policy tools weaken the greenback, which dampened the dollar's gains on Wednesday.
The greenback, meanwhile, was down against the pound, with GBP/USD trading up 0.02% at 1.6136.
The dollar was up against the yen, with USD/JPY trading up 0.03% at 78.18, and up against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF trading up 0.06% at 0.9370.
The dollar was up against its cousins in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with USD/CAD trading up 0.04% at 0.9846, AUD/USD down 0.32% at 1.0234 and NZD/USD trading down 0.39% at 0.8264.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.03% at 79.86.
Later Wednesday, the U.S. will release industry data on non-farm employment change, followed by a report by the Institute for Supply Management on non-manufacturing activity, as well as government data on crude oil stockpiles.
Concerns retail sales in Europe due out later may disappoint sparked demand for the dollar as well.
In Asian trading on Wednesday, EUR/USD was down 0.09% at 1.2907.
A Reuters report that Spain may request a bailout in the coming days bolstered the euro early, even though Germany was reportedly urging Madrid to hold off.
A bailout could open the door for the European Central Bank to buy sovereign Spanish debt carrying maturities of up to three years, which would lower borrowing costs in the crisis-weary country.
Yet until Spain requests a bailout or rejects plans to do so, uncertainty will keep the currency moving up and down in choppy trading, as was the case on Wednesday.
European policymakers are due to hold a summit later this month, and anticipation of announcements concerning Spain and other crisis-related issues moved the euro up and down against safe-haven currencies such as the dollar.
Later Wednesday, the eurozone will release retail sales figures, and concerns the data may disappoint sent the euro and other higher-yielding dipping against the greenback as did a Reserve Bank of Australia decision to cut benchmark interest rates to by 25 basis points to 3.25%.
Meanwhile in the U.S., payroll processor ADP will release its September report on private-sector hiring on Thursday while on Friday, the U.S. Department of Labor will release the country's official September jobs report.
Uncertainty over the health of the U.S. labor market sent investors to the greenback as well.
However, the Federal Reserve is currently running a third round of quantitative easing, a monetary stimulus tool that sees the U.S. central bank buying USD40 billion in mortgage-backed securities a month to spur recovery.
Such policy tools weaken the greenback, which dampened the dollar's gains on Wednesday.
The greenback, meanwhile, was down against the pound, with GBP/USD trading up 0.02% at 1.6136.
The dollar was up against the yen, with USD/JPY trading up 0.03% at 78.18, and up against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF trading up 0.06% at 0.9370.
The dollar was up against its cousins in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with USD/CAD trading up 0.04% at 0.9846, AUD/USD down 0.32% at 1.0234 and NZD/USD trading down 0.39% at 0.8264.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.03% at 79.86.
Later Wednesday, the U.S. will release industry data on non-farm employment change, followed by a report by the Institute for Supply Management on non-manufacturing activity, as well as government data on crude oil stockpiles.