Investing.com - The dollar held steady against most major global currencies on Thursday, regaining losses sustained on earlier reports the European Central Bank is finalizing plans to buy sovereign bond to ease the debt crisis in big economies like Italy and Spain.
In Asian trading on Thursday, EUR/USD was up 0.08% at 1.2610.
The Bloomberg news agency reported earlier that the ECB was planning to launch "unlimited, sterilized" bond purchases, meaning the monetary authority would buy Spanish, Italian or other debt with money elsewhere in the financial system and not likely printed anew in a fashion carried out by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The plan, known as the Monetary Outright Transaction proposal, will involve purchases of government bonds carrying maturities of up to three years.
The news sent the euro gaining against most other currencies, the dollar especially, as investors viewed the move as a big step towards controlling the European debt crisis.
The dollar, however, regained composure in Asian trading on Thursday as investors sought safe-haven in the liquid U.S. currency until ECB bond buying becomes official.
Elsewhere in Europe, eurozone retail sales contracted although in line with expectations, dropping 0.2% in July and bringing the annualized rate of decline to 1.7%.
Earlier in the U.S., the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported earlier that non-farm business sector labor productivity rose by a seasonally adjusted 2.2% in the second quarter, outpacing expectations for a 1.8% gain and up from a preliminary estimate of a 1.6% increase.
The report also showed that unit labor costs rose by a seasonally adjusted 1.5% in the second quarter, in line with expectations and down from an initial estimate of a 1.7% increase.
While uncertainty and anticipation for an ECB announcement to buy bonds drove some investors to the dollar, talk the Fed may stimulate its own economy sparked some selling.
The U.S. will release its August jobs report on Friday and talk is building the numbers may be soft enough to prompt the Fed to announce a third round of quantitative easing to jolt the economy.
The Federal Reserve will hold its monetary policy meeting next week.
Under quantitative easing, the Fed buys assets such as Treasury holdings or mortgage-backed securities from banks, pumping the financial system full of liquidity to push down interest rates and encourage investing and hiring.
Such accommodative policies tend to weaken the dollar by design.
The dollar was up slightly against the yen, with USD/JPY trading up 0.01% at 78.40, and down against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF trading down 0.03% at 0.9553.
The dollar was mixed against its cousins in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with USD/CAD up 0.04% at 0.9910, AUD/USD up 0.22% at 1.0214 and NZD/USD up 0.21% at 0.7960.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.02% at 81.21.
In the U.S., the ADP report on non-farm employment change will publish followed by weekly government data on unemployment claims.
The country is also to release a report by the Institute for Supply Management on non-manufacturing activity, as well as official data on crude oil stockpiles.
In Asian trading on Thursday, EUR/USD was up 0.08% at 1.2610.
The Bloomberg news agency reported earlier that the ECB was planning to launch "unlimited, sterilized" bond purchases, meaning the monetary authority would buy Spanish, Italian or other debt with money elsewhere in the financial system and not likely printed anew in a fashion carried out by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The plan, known as the Monetary Outright Transaction proposal, will involve purchases of government bonds carrying maturities of up to three years.
The news sent the euro gaining against most other currencies, the dollar especially, as investors viewed the move as a big step towards controlling the European debt crisis.
The dollar, however, regained composure in Asian trading on Thursday as investors sought safe-haven in the liquid U.S. currency until ECB bond buying becomes official.
Elsewhere in Europe, eurozone retail sales contracted although in line with expectations, dropping 0.2% in July and bringing the annualized rate of decline to 1.7%.
Earlier in the U.S., the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported earlier that non-farm business sector labor productivity rose by a seasonally adjusted 2.2% in the second quarter, outpacing expectations for a 1.8% gain and up from a preliminary estimate of a 1.6% increase.
The report also showed that unit labor costs rose by a seasonally adjusted 1.5% in the second quarter, in line with expectations and down from an initial estimate of a 1.7% increase.
While uncertainty and anticipation for an ECB announcement to buy bonds drove some investors to the dollar, talk the Fed may stimulate its own economy sparked some selling.
The U.S. will release its August jobs report on Friday and talk is building the numbers may be soft enough to prompt the Fed to announce a third round of quantitative easing to jolt the economy.
The Federal Reserve will hold its monetary policy meeting next week.
Under quantitative easing, the Fed buys assets such as Treasury holdings or mortgage-backed securities from banks, pumping the financial system full of liquidity to push down interest rates and encourage investing and hiring.
Such accommodative policies tend to weaken the dollar by design.
The dollar was up slightly against the yen, with USD/JPY trading up 0.01% at 78.40, and down against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF trading down 0.03% at 0.9553.
The dollar was mixed against its cousins in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with USD/CAD up 0.04% at 0.9910, AUD/USD up 0.22% at 1.0214 and NZD/USD up 0.21% at 0.7960.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.02% at 81.21.
In the U.S., the ADP report on non-farm employment change will publish followed by weekly government data on unemployment claims.
The country is also to release a report by the Institute for Supply Management on non-manufacturing activity, as well as official data on crude oil stockpiles.