Investing.com – The U.S. dollar was mixed against its major counterparts on Wednesday, ahead of the release of a raft of key U.S. economic data.
During European afternoon trade, the greenback was up against the euro, with EUR/USD slipping 0.04% to hit 1.3371.
Earlier Wednesday, the premium that investors demand to hold Spanish government debt rose after ratings agency Moody’s put Spain's Aa1 sovereign credit rating under review, pending a possible downgrade.
The greenback was also up against the pound with GBP/USD tumbling 0.68% to hit 1.5664. Also Wednesday, official data showed that the number of people claiming unemployment benefits in the U.K. fell less-than-expected in November, while the unemployment rate rose unexpectedly in the third quarter.
Elsewhere, the greenback was up against the yen and down against the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY rising 0.13% to hit 83.77 and USD/CHF slipping 0.13% to hit 0.9583.
Earlier Wednesday, the Bank of Japan said its Tankan manufacturing index fell for the first time since March 2009, declining to 5.0 points in the fourth quarter, after rising to 8.0 points in the preceding quarter.
Meanwhile, the greenback was down against its Canadian counterpart but up against its Australian and New Zealand cousins, with USD/CAD sliding 0.03% to hit 1.0060, AUD/USD shedding 0.42% to hit 0.9947 and NZD/USD losing 0.33% to hit 0.7490.
Earlier in the day, a report by Westpac Bank and the Melbourne Institute showed that though Australian consumer sentiment rose 0.2% in December from the previous month, the figure was down 2.4% year-on-year.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.17%.
Later Wednesday, the U.S. was to publish a flurry of data, with reports on consumer price inflation as well as data on manufacturing activity in New York State. The country was also to publish official data on industrial production.
During European afternoon trade, the greenback was up against the euro, with EUR/USD slipping 0.04% to hit 1.3371.
Earlier Wednesday, the premium that investors demand to hold Spanish government debt rose after ratings agency Moody’s put Spain's Aa1 sovereign credit rating under review, pending a possible downgrade.
The greenback was also up against the pound with GBP/USD tumbling 0.68% to hit 1.5664. Also Wednesday, official data showed that the number of people claiming unemployment benefits in the U.K. fell less-than-expected in November, while the unemployment rate rose unexpectedly in the third quarter.
Elsewhere, the greenback was up against the yen and down against the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY rising 0.13% to hit 83.77 and USD/CHF slipping 0.13% to hit 0.9583.
Earlier Wednesday, the Bank of Japan said its Tankan manufacturing index fell for the first time since March 2009, declining to 5.0 points in the fourth quarter, after rising to 8.0 points in the preceding quarter.
Meanwhile, the greenback was down against its Canadian counterpart but up against its Australian and New Zealand cousins, with USD/CAD sliding 0.03% to hit 1.0060, AUD/USD shedding 0.42% to hit 0.9947 and NZD/USD losing 0.33% to hit 0.7490.
Earlier in the day, a report by Westpac Bank and the Melbourne Institute showed that though Australian consumer sentiment rose 0.2% in December from the previous month, the figure was down 2.4% year-on-year.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.17%.
Later Wednesday, the U.S. was to publish a flurry of data, with reports on consumer price inflation as well as data on manufacturing activity in New York State. The country was also to publish official data on industrial production.