Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was mixed against its major counterparts on Thursday, as markets were jittery after a flurry of U.S. data and ahead of comments by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi.
During U.S. morning trade, the dollar was lower against the euro, with EUR/USD rising 0.13% to hit 1.3065.
Mario Draghi and Bank of England Governor Mervyn King were to hold a joint press conference in Frankfurt later in the day after a meeting of the European Systemic Risk Board.
The single currency came under pressure earlier as concerns over the debt crisis in the euro zone persisted amid speculation of an imminent French downgrade.
Italy's Senate passed a vote of confidence that put the final seal on an emergency austerity budget to restore market confidence in the euro zone's third biggest economy.
The greenback was also lower against the pound, with GBP/USD easing up 0.08% to hit 1.5693.
The U.K.’s Office for National Statistics said earlier that the country’s economy expanded 0.6% during the third quarter, up from a preliminary estimate of 0.5%. Annualized GDP rose at a rate of 0.5%, in line with expectations and unrevised from an initial estimate.
Separately, the ONS said that the country’s current account deficit widened to GBP15.2 billion in the third quarter, the highest since records began in 1955. Economists had expected the current account deficit to stand at GBP5.5 billion.
The greenback was higher against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY edging up 0.06% to hit 78.10 and USD/CHF advancing 0.05% to hit 0.9362.
Earlier Thursday, Swiss Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf said a panel from the government and the central bank is examining options such as capital controls and negative interest rates to curb the Swiss franc’s strength.
Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan warned that the country's recovery has stalled as business sentiment deteriorated in the wake of weaker export demand.
The greenback was lower against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD declining 0.45% to hit 1.0220, AUD/USD climbing 0.31% to hit 1.0134 and NZD/USD advancing 0.51% to hit 0.7744.
In New Zealand, official data showed that the country’s GDP rose 0.8% in the third quarter, beating expectations for a 0.6% gain. New Zealand’s GDP grew by an unrevised 0.1% in the previous quarter.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.01% to hit 80.34.
Also Thursday, data showed that the U.S. economy grew at a slower rate of 1.8% than initially estimated during the third quarter.
A separate report showed that the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week fell unexpectedly to the lowest level since April 2008, dropping to 364,000.
During U.S. morning trade, the dollar was lower against the euro, with EUR/USD rising 0.13% to hit 1.3065.
Mario Draghi and Bank of England Governor Mervyn King were to hold a joint press conference in Frankfurt later in the day after a meeting of the European Systemic Risk Board.
The single currency came under pressure earlier as concerns over the debt crisis in the euro zone persisted amid speculation of an imminent French downgrade.
Italy's Senate passed a vote of confidence that put the final seal on an emergency austerity budget to restore market confidence in the euro zone's third biggest economy.
The greenback was also lower against the pound, with GBP/USD easing up 0.08% to hit 1.5693.
The U.K.’s Office for National Statistics said earlier that the country’s economy expanded 0.6% during the third quarter, up from a preliminary estimate of 0.5%. Annualized GDP rose at a rate of 0.5%, in line with expectations and unrevised from an initial estimate.
Separately, the ONS said that the country’s current account deficit widened to GBP15.2 billion in the third quarter, the highest since records began in 1955. Economists had expected the current account deficit to stand at GBP5.5 billion.
The greenback was higher against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY edging up 0.06% to hit 78.10 and USD/CHF advancing 0.05% to hit 0.9362.
Earlier Thursday, Swiss Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf said a panel from the government and the central bank is examining options such as capital controls and negative interest rates to curb the Swiss franc’s strength.
Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan warned that the country's recovery has stalled as business sentiment deteriorated in the wake of weaker export demand.
The greenback was lower against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD declining 0.45% to hit 1.0220, AUD/USD climbing 0.31% to hit 1.0134 and NZD/USD advancing 0.51% to hit 0.7744.
In New Zealand, official data showed that the country’s GDP rose 0.8% in the third quarter, beating expectations for a 0.6% gain. New Zealand’s GDP grew by an unrevised 0.1% in the previous quarter.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.01% to hit 80.34.
Also Thursday, data showed that the U.S. economy grew at a slower rate of 1.8% than initially estimated during the third quarter.
A separate report showed that the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week fell unexpectedly to the lowest level since April 2008, dropping to 364,000.