Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was mixed against its major counterparts in post-Christmas trade on Wednesday, as investors continued to monitor negotiations among U.S. lawmakers to avoid the looming “fiscal cliff” crisis ahead of the year-end deadline.
Market players remained focused on developments surrounding the fiscal cliff in the U.S., approximately USD600 billion in automatic tax hikes and spending cuts due to come into effect on January 1.
President Barack Obama, currently vacationing in Hawaii, plans to return to Washington on Thursday in order to take part in talks to avert the crisis ahead of the year-end deadline, the White House said late Tuesday.
Both chambers of Congress are also due to return to work on Thursday.
Without a deal, the U.S. could fall back into recession and drag much of the world down with it.
During U.S. morning trade, the dollar was lower against the euro and the pound, with EUR/USD adding 0.37% to 1.3241 and GBP/USD up 0.13% to hit 1.6140.
Financial markets in Europe and London remained closed for the Christmas break, resulting in low trade volumes.
Meanwhile, the greenback rallied against the yen, with USD/JPY rising 0.86% to trade at 85.60, the strongest level since September 2010.
Shinzo Abe was formally approved as Japan’s prime minister by the lower house of parliament earlier in the day. Abe has recently called for unlimited easing by the Bank of Japan in order to weaken the local currency and spur growth in the recession-hit economy.
Elsewhere, the U.S. dollar was higher against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD adding 0.32% to 0.9945, AUD/USD inching 0.05% lower to 1.0358 and NZD/USD shedding 0.56% to 0.8178.
Markets in Australia and New Zealand remained shut in observance of Boxing Day.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.07% to trade at 79.68.
Data released earlier showed that the U.S. S&P/Case-Shiller home price index rose at an annualized rate of 4.3% in October from a year earlier, above expectations for a 4% increase.
Month-on-month, U.S. home prices rose 0.7%, above expectations for a 0.5% increase, after rising by 0.4% in the preceding month.
A separate report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond said that its manufacturing index fell to 5.0 in December from a reading of 9.0 in November. Analysts had expected the index to increase to 12.0 in December.
Market players remained focused on developments surrounding the fiscal cliff in the U.S., approximately USD600 billion in automatic tax hikes and spending cuts due to come into effect on January 1.
President Barack Obama, currently vacationing in Hawaii, plans to return to Washington on Thursday in order to take part in talks to avert the crisis ahead of the year-end deadline, the White House said late Tuesday.
Both chambers of Congress are also due to return to work on Thursday.
Without a deal, the U.S. could fall back into recession and drag much of the world down with it.
During U.S. morning trade, the dollar was lower against the euro and the pound, with EUR/USD adding 0.37% to 1.3241 and GBP/USD up 0.13% to hit 1.6140.
Financial markets in Europe and London remained closed for the Christmas break, resulting in low trade volumes.
Meanwhile, the greenback rallied against the yen, with USD/JPY rising 0.86% to trade at 85.60, the strongest level since September 2010.
Shinzo Abe was formally approved as Japan’s prime minister by the lower house of parliament earlier in the day. Abe has recently called for unlimited easing by the Bank of Japan in order to weaken the local currency and spur growth in the recession-hit economy.
Elsewhere, the U.S. dollar was higher against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD adding 0.32% to 0.9945, AUD/USD inching 0.05% lower to 1.0358 and NZD/USD shedding 0.56% to 0.8178.
Markets in Australia and New Zealand remained shut in observance of Boxing Day.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.07% to trade at 79.68.
Data released earlier showed that the U.S. S&P/Case-Shiller home price index rose at an annualized rate of 4.3% in October from a year earlier, above expectations for a 4% increase.
Month-on-month, U.S. home prices rose 0.7%, above expectations for a 0.5% increase, after rising by 0.4% in the preceding month.
A separate report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond said that its manufacturing index fell to 5.0 in December from a reading of 9.0 in November. Analysts had expected the index to increase to 12.0 in December.