Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was moving between small gains and losses against most of its major counterparts on Wednesday, as investors remained wary ahead of Thursday’s European Central Bank policy meeting and euro zone government debt auctions later in the week.
During European morning trade, the dollar was almost unchanged against the euro, with EUR/USD dipping 0.02% to hit 1.2776.
The euro found support earlier after a preliminary estimate showed that Germany’s gross domestic product expanded by 3% 2011, from 3.6% in 2010, easing concerns over the impact of the euro zone’s debt crisis on the region’s largest economy.
The ECB was expected to keep rates unchanged at 1% at its meeting on Thursday, and was expected to reiterate that governments in the euro zone must step up efforts to tackle the region’s debt crisis.
Later Wednesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel was to meet with Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, to discuss plans to shore up Italy’s finances ahead of a European Union summit on January 30.
The greenback was slightly higher against the pound, with GBP/USD slipping 0.13% to hit 1.5462.
In the U.K., official data showed that the goods trade deficit expanded more-than-expected in November, increasing to GBP8.6 billion in November, compared with the deficit of GBP7.9 billion the previous month.
Analysts had expected the goods trade deficit to expand to GBP8.3 billion in November.
Elsewhere, the greenback was fractionally higher against the yen but dipped against the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY easing up 0.08% to hit 76.91 and USD/CHF inching down 0.02% to hit 0.9489.
Earlier Wednesday, Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said governments must implement “necessary” reforms to aid the global economy, adding that the yen’s strength will “hurt the Japanese economy in the short term,” after the central bank lowered its economic assessment for a second straight month in December.
The greenback was slightly weaker against its counterparts in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with USD/CAD slipping 0.05% to hit 1.0147, AUD/USD inching up 0.03% to hit 1.0317 and NZD/USD easing up 0.12% to hit 0.7952.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, inched up 0.03% to hit 81.17.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to produce official data on crude oil stockpiles, while the Federal Reserve was to release its Beige Book.
During European morning trade, the dollar was almost unchanged against the euro, with EUR/USD dipping 0.02% to hit 1.2776.
The euro found support earlier after a preliminary estimate showed that Germany’s gross domestic product expanded by 3% 2011, from 3.6% in 2010, easing concerns over the impact of the euro zone’s debt crisis on the region’s largest economy.
The ECB was expected to keep rates unchanged at 1% at its meeting on Thursday, and was expected to reiterate that governments in the euro zone must step up efforts to tackle the region’s debt crisis.
Later Wednesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel was to meet with Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, to discuss plans to shore up Italy’s finances ahead of a European Union summit on January 30.
The greenback was slightly higher against the pound, with GBP/USD slipping 0.13% to hit 1.5462.
In the U.K., official data showed that the goods trade deficit expanded more-than-expected in November, increasing to GBP8.6 billion in November, compared with the deficit of GBP7.9 billion the previous month.
Analysts had expected the goods trade deficit to expand to GBP8.3 billion in November.
Elsewhere, the greenback was fractionally higher against the yen but dipped against the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY easing up 0.08% to hit 76.91 and USD/CHF inching down 0.02% to hit 0.9489.
Earlier Wednesday, Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said governments must implement “necessary” reforms to aid the global economy, adding that the yen’s strength will “hurt the Japanese economy in the short term,” after the central bank lowered its economic assessment for a second straight month in December.
The greenback was slightly weaker against its counterparts in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with USD/CAD slipping 0.05% to hit 1.0147, AUD/USD inching up 0.03% to hit 1.0317 and NZD/USD easing up 0.12% to hit 0.7952.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, inched up 0.03% to hit 81.17.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to produce official data on crude oil stockpiles, while the Federal Reserve was to release its Beige Book.