Investing.com - The dollar traded largely flat on Thursday after the Federal Reserve announced it was leaving interest rates and monetary policy in general unchanged.
Policy remained loose, which was bearish for the unit though soft data out of Europe bolstered the U.S. currency somewhat.
In Asian trading on Thursday, EUR/USD was down 0.02% at 1.2971.
In the U.S., the Federal Reserve announced earlier that it left interest rates and monetary policy unchanged, pointing out that elevated unemployment rates and headwinds from abroad merit ongoing asset purchases from banks, a monetary policy tool known as quantitative easing.
"The Committee remains concerned that, without sufficient policy accommodation, economic growth might not be strong enough to generate sustained improvement in labor market conditions," the Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed's rate-setting body, said in a statement.
"If the outlook for the labor market does not improve substantially, the Committee will continue its purchases of agency mortgage-backed securities, undertake additional asset purchases, and employ its other policy tools as appropriate until such improvement is achieved in a context of price stability."
U.S. new home sales outpaced expectations in September, hitting levels not seen since April 2010, sparking some demand for risk that softened the dollar.
The U.S. Census Bureau reported earlier that new home sales rose by 5.7% to a seasonally adjusted 389,000 units in September, beating expectations for a 3.2% increase to 385,000.
New home sales for August were revised down to 368,000 units from a previously reported 373,000.
The median sales price of new houses sold in September fell 3.2% to USD242,200.
The euro and other higher-yielding currencies, however, saw downward pressure of their own.
Greece said earlier its European and IMF creditors gave it more time to push through austerity cuts though E.U. officials said otherwise, which prevented the euro from rallying.
Eurozone economic data pressured the dollar upwards.
The flash eurozone manufacturing purchasing managers’ index fell to 45.3 in October from a final reading of 46.1 in September.
Analysts were expecting the index to rise to 46.6 in October.
A separate report showed that the eurozone’s service-sector PMI crept up to 46.2 in October from 46.1 last month.
Germany’s flash manufacturing PMI fell to 45.7 in October from a final reading of 47.4 in September.
The number pressured the dollar upwards on concerns Europe's largest economy may be cooling.
Meanwhile, German research institute Ifo reported that its business climate index for October hit to its lowest level since March 2010.
The index fell 1.4 points to a seasonally adjusted 100.0 in October from a reading of 101.4 in September.
Analysts had expected the index to inch up 0.1 points to 101.5 in October.
The greenback, meanwhile, was up slightly against the pound, with GBP/USD trading down 0.01% at 1.6036.
The dollar was up against the yen, with USD/JPY trading up 0.18% at 79.95 and down against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF trading down 0.03% at 0.9322.
The dollar was down against its cousins in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with USD/CAD trading down 0.01% at 0.9934, AUD/USD up 0.20% at 1.0364 and NZD/USD trading up 0.30% at 0.8228.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.03% at 80.03.
Later Thursday, the U.S. is to release official data on durable goods orders, a leading indicator of production, as well as data on pending home sales and initial jobless claims.
Policy remained loose, which was bearish for the unit though soft data out of Europe bolstered the U.S. currency somewhat.
In Asian trading on Thursday, EUR/USD was down 0.02% at 1.2971.
In the U.S., the Federal Reserve announced earlier that it left interest rates and monetary policy unchanged, pointing out that elevated unemployment rates and headwinds from abroad merit ongoing asset purchases from banks, a monetary policy tool known as quantitative easing.
"The Committee remains concerned that, without sufficient policy accommodation, economic growth might not be strong enough to generate sustained improvement in labor market conditions," the Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed's rate-setting body, said in a statement.
"If the outlook for the labor market does not improve substantially, the Committee will continue its purchases of agency mortgage-backed securities, undertake additional asset purchases, and employ its other policy tools as appropriate until such improvement is achieved in a context of price stability."
U.S. new home sales outpaced expectations in September, hitting levels not seen since April 2010, sparking some demand for risk that softened the dollar.
The U.S. Census Bureau reported earlier that new home sales rose by 5.7% to a seasonally adjusted 389,000 units in September, beating expectations for a 3.2% increase to 385,000.
New home sales for August were revised down to 368,000 units from a previously reported 373,000.
The median sales price of new houses sold in September fell 3.2% to USD242,200.
The euro and other higher-yielding currencies, however, saw downward pressure of their own.
Greece said earlier its European and IMF creditors gave it more time to push through austerity cuts though E.U. officials said otherwise, which prevented the euro from rallying.
Eurozone economic data pressured the dollar upwards.
The flash eurozone manufacturing purchasing managers’ index fell to 45.3 in October from a final reading of 46.1 in September.
Analysts were expecting the index to rise to 46.6 in October.
A separate report showed that the eurozone’s service-sector PMI crept up to 46.2 in October from 46.1 last month.
Germany’s flash manufacturing PMI fell to 45.7 in October from a final reading of 47.4 in September.
The number pressured the dollar upwards on concerns Europe's largest economy may be cooling.
Meanwhile, German research institute Ifo reported that its business climate index for October hit to its lowest level since March 2010.
The index fell 1.4 points to a seasonally adjusted 100.0 in October from a reading of 101.4 in September.
Analysts had expected the index to inch up 0.1 points to 101.5 in October.
The greenback, meanwhile, was up slightly against the pound, with GBP/USD trading down 0.01% at 1.6036.
The dollar was up against the yen, with USD/JPY trading up 0.18% at 79.95 and down against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF trading down 0.03% at 0.9322.
The dollar was down against its cousins in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with USD/CAD trading down 0.01% at 0.9934, AUD/USD up 0.20% at 1.0364 and NZD/USD trading up 0.30% at 0.8228.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.03% at 80.03.
Later Thursday, the U.S. is to release official data on durable goods orders, a leading indicator of production, as well as data on pending home sales and initial jobless claims.