Investing.com - The U.S. dollar traded lower against most of its major rivals during Monday’s Asian session as traders in the region digested some slack data out of the world’s largest economy and mulled what the specter of possible tapering by the Federal Reserve as soon as next month.
In Asian trading Monday, EUR/USD rose 0.07% to 1.3338. Eurostat said the euro zone’s economy expanded by 0.3% in the three months to June. Economists had expected quarter-on-quarter growth of 0.2%. France’s economy expanded 0.5%, following two consecutive quarters of contraction, while Germany’s economy expanded by a larger than forecast 0.7%.
Later Monday, Spain is to hold an auction of 10-year government bonds. Spanish equities have been among the euro zone’s best performers over the past month.
USD/JPY was flat at 97.61 while GBP/USD inched up 0.02% to 1.5628. Sterling remained broadly supported after Wednesday’s minutes of the Bank of England’s July meeting showed that the decision to provide forward guidance on future rate increases was not unanimous.
USD/CHF nudged up 0.02% to 0.9268 while USD/CAD fell 0.09% to 1.0331 even as oil prices traded lower.
In U.S. economic news out last Friday, the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's preliminary reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment for August fell to 80 from 85.1 in July. The August reading was the worst in four months.
The Commerce Department said housing starts rose 5.9% to 896,000 units. Economists expected housing starts to rise to 900,000 units.
AUD/USD added 0.13% to 0.9194 as the Aussie’s continued upside as forced traders to reduce their bearish bets on the currency. Data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed showed short bets on the Aussie plunged to 62,721 options and futures contracts as of August 13 from an all-time high of 76,779 a week earlier.
NZD/USD inched up 0.02% to 0.8108 after Statistics New Zealand said that New Zealand’s producer price index rose 0.6% in the second quarter following a first-quarter gain of 0.8%. Analysts expected the second-quarter increase of 0.6%.
Statistics New Zealand also said that New Zealand PPI output rose 1% last month after a 0.8% increase in June. Analysts expected a July increase of 0.7%.
The U.S. Dollar Index fell 0.08% to 81.28.
In Asian trading Monday, EUR/USD rose 0.07% to 1.3338. Eurostat said the euro zone’s economy expanded by 0.3% in the three months to June. Economists had expected quarter-on-quarter growth of 0.2%. France’s economy expanded 0.5%, following two consecutive quarters of contraction, while Germany’s economy expanded by a larger than forecast 0.7%.
Later Monday, Spain is to hold an auction of 10-year government bonds. Spanish equities have been among the euro zone’s best performers over the past month.
USD/JPY was flat at 97.61 while GBP/USD inched up 0.02% to 1.5628. Sterling remained broadly supported after Wednesday’s minutes of the Bank of England’s July meeting showed that the decision to provide forward guidance on future rate increases was not unanimous.
USD/CHF nudged up 0.02% to 0.9268 while USD/CAD fell 0.09% to 1.0331 even as oil prices traded lower.
In U.S. economic news out last Friday, the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's preliminary reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment for August fell to 80 from 85.1 in July. The August reading was the worst in four months.
The Commerce Department said housing starts rose 5.9% to 896,000 units. Economists expected housing starts to rise to 900,000 units.
AUD/USD added 0.13% to 0.9194 as the Aussie’s continued upside as forced traders to reduce their bearish bets on the currency. Data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed showed short bets on the Aussie plunged to 62,721 options and futures contracts as of August 13 from an all-time high of 76,779 a week earlier.
NZD/USD inched up 0.02% to 0.8108 after Statistics New Zealand said that New Zealand’s producer price index rose 0.6% in the second quarter following a first-quarter gain of 0.8%. Analysts expected the second-quarter increase of 0.6%.
Statistics New Zealand also said that New Zealand PPI output rose 1% last month after a 0.8% increase in June. Analysts expected a July increase of 0.7%.
The U.S. Dollar Index fell 0.08% to 81.28.