Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was mixed against its major counterparts on Thursday, as markets were jittery ahead of French and Spanish bond auctions later in the day while fresh Greece bailout talks also continued.
During European morning trade, the dollar was lower against the euro, with EUR/USD up 0.10% to hit 1.2877.
France was preparing to raise as much as EUR9.5 billion euros in its first sale of medium and long-term debt after Standard & Poor’s downgraded its triple A rating last week.
Meanwhile, Spain, whose rating was lowered by two levels to A, was set to offer as much as EUR4.5 billion of bonds later Thursday.
Talks between Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and the country’s creditors resumed on Wednesday, after breaking down last week amid disagreements over how much money investors will lose by swapping their bonds.
The greenback was moderately higher against the pound, with GBP/USD easing 0.04% to hit 1.5432.
The Nationwide Building Society said earlier in a report that its index of U.K. consumer confidence declined unexpectedly in December, slipping to 38 after a reading at 40 the previous month.
Analysts had expected the index to rise to 41 in December.
The greenback was lower against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY sliding 0.12% to hit 76.73 and USD/CHF shedding 0.19% to hit 0.9375.
Elsewhere, the greenback was lower against its Canadian counterpart but higher against its Australian and New Zealand cousins, with USD/CAD declining 0.16% to hit 1.0095, AUD/USD retreating 0.31% to hit 1.0402 and NZD/USD falling 0.30% to hit 0.8019.
Official data showed earlier that Australian employment change fell by 29,300 in December, confounding expectations for a gain of 10,000.The report also showed that Australia’s unemployment rate held steady at 5.2%.
In New Zealand, official data showed that consumer price inflation fell unexpectedly in the fourth quarter, ticking down 0.3% after a 0.4% rise the previous quarter.
Analysts had expected consumer price inflation to rise 0.4% in the fourth quarter.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, slipped 0.16% to hit 80.55.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish official data on building reports and housing starts as well as a report on consumer price inflation. The country was also to release government data on unemployment claims and a separate report on manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia area.
During European morning trade, the dollar was lower against the euro, with EUR/USD up 0.10% to hit 1.2877.
France was preparing to raise as much as EUR9.5 billion euros in its first sale of medium and long-term debt after Standard & Poor’s downgraded its triple A rating last week.
Meanwhile, Spain, whose rating was lowered by two levels to A, was set to offer as much as EUR4.5 billion of bonds later Thursday.
Talks between Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and the country’s creditors resumed on Wednesday, after breaking down last week amid disagreements over how much money investors will lose by swapping their bonds.
The greenback was moderately higher against the pound, with GBP/USD easing 0.04% to hit 1.5432.
The Nationwide Building Society said earlier in a report that its index of U.K. consumer confidence declined unexpectedly in December, slipping to 38 after a reading at 40 the previous month.
Analysts had expected the index to rise to 41 in December.
The greenback was lower against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY sliding 0.12% to hit 76.73 and USD/CHF shedding 0.19% to hit 0.9375.
Elsewhere, the greenback was lower against its Canadian counterpart but higher against its Australian and New Zealand cousins, with USD/CAD declining 0.16% to hit 1.0095, AUD/USD retreating 0.31% to hit 1.0402 and NZD/USD falling 0.30% to hit 0.8019.
Official data showed earlier that Australian employment change fell by 29,300 in December, confounding expectations for a gain of 10,000.The report also showed that Australia’s unemployment rate held steady at 5.2%.
In New Zealand, official data showed that consumer price inflation fell unexpectedly in the fourth quarter, ticking down 0.3% after a 0.4% rise the previous quarter.
Analysts had expected consumer price inflation to rise 0.4% in the fourth quarter.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, slipped 0.16% to hit 80.55.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish official data on building reports and housing starts as well as a report on consumer price inflation. The country was also to release government data on unemployment claims and a separate report on manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia area.