Investing.com - The dollar weakened against most major currencies on Monday after Federal Reserve officials said earlier the U.S. central bank should keep stimulus programs in place until the economy displays noted improvements.
Stimulus programs such as the Fed's USD85 billion in monthly bond purchases aim to boost the economy by driving down interest, weakening the greenback in the process.
In U.S. trading on Monday, EUR/USD was up 0.18% at 1.3516.
Federal Reserve officials said earlier the U.S. central bank should not scale back its USD85 billion in monthly bond purchases until economic fundamentals display noted improvements.
While St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard and Federal Reserve Board Governor Jerome Powell stressed the need to keep stimulus programs such as monthly asset purchases in place, they didn't indicate when monetary authorities should begin tapering and then end asset purchases, which curbed the dollar's losses somewhat.
Elsewhere in the U.S., data released earlier revealed that U.S. factory orders rose 1.7% in October from September, in line with expectations.
The dollar traded lower, however, as investors weighed possible market reactions to the release of the October U.S. jobs report due out on Friday, with many predicting modest gains in the number of nonfarm payrolls.
The dollar also moved lower as investors sold the unit for profits in wake of better-than-expected recent manufacturing data.
The Institute of Supply Management released data last week showing that the U.S. PMI rose to 56.4 in October from 56.2 in September, defying expectations for a decline to 55.0.
The numbers sent the greenback strengthening to levels ripe for profit taking on Monday.
Meanwhile in Europe, the euro zone manufacturing purchasing managers’ index ticked up to 51.3 in October from a final reading of 51.1 in September, unchanged from a preliminary estimate and in line with market forecasts, according to London-based Markit Economics.
Germany’s manufacturing PMI rose to 51.7 last month from 51.5 in September as new orders and production levels rose.
Analysts were expecting the figure to remain unchanged at 51.5.
Still, sluggish inflation rates, elevated unemployment numbers and soft data elsewhere in the euro zone have many convinced the European Central Bank will trim interest rates at a policy meeting this week, which weakened the euro.
The greenback was down against the pound, with GBP/USD up 0.29% at 1.5973.
The pound advanced after data showed that the U.K. construction purchasing managers’ index rose to 59.4 last month, the highest level since September 2007, from 58.9 in September.
Analysts were expecting an unchanged reading.
The dollar was down against the yen, with USD/JPY down 0.13% at 98.58, and down against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF down 0.31% at 0.9094.
The dollar was down against its cousins in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with USD/CAD down 0.02% at 1.0421, AUD/USD up 0.74% at 0.9506 and NZD/USD trading up 0.25% at 0.8280.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.21% at 80.63.
On Tuesday in the U.S., the Institute of Supply Management is to release a report on service-sector activity.
Stimulus programs such as the Fed's USD85 billion in monthly bond purchases aim to boost the economy by driving down interest, weakening the greenback in the process.
In U.S. trading on Monday, EUR/USD was up 0.18% at 1.3516.
Federal Reserve officials said earlier the U.S. central bank should not scale back its USD85 billion in monthly bond purchases until economic fundamentals display noted improvements.
While St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard and Federal Reserve Board Governor Jerome Powell stressed the need to keep stimulus programs such as monthly asset purchases in place, they didn't indicate when monetary authorities should begin tapering and then end asset purchases, which curbed the dollar's losses somewhat.
Elsewhere in the U.S., data released earlier revealed that U.S. factory orders rose 1.7% in October from September, in line with expectations.
The dollar traded lower, however, as investors weighed possible market reactions to the release of the October U.S. jobs report due out on Friday, with many predicting modest gains in the number of nonfarm payrolls.
The dollar also moved lower as investors sold the unit for profits in wake of better-than-expected recent manufacturing data.
The Institute of Supply Management released data last week showing that the U.S. PMI rose to 56.4 in October from 56.2 in September, defying expectations for a decline to 55.0.
The numbers sent the greenback strengthening to levels ripe for profit taking on Monday.
Meanwhile in Europe, the euro zone manufacturing purchasing managers’ index ticked up to 51.3 in October from a final reading of 51.1 in September, unchanged from a preliminary estimate and in line with market forecasts, according to London-based Markit Economics.
Germany’s manufacturing PMI rose to 51.7 last month from 51.5 in September as new orders and production levels rose.
Analysts were expecting the figure to remain unchanged at 51.5.
Still, sluggish inflation rates, elevated unemployment numbers and soft data elsewhere in the euro zone have many convinced the European Central Bank will trim interest rates at a policy meeting this week, which weakened the euro.
The greenback was down against the pound, with GBP/USD up 0.29% at 1.5973.
The pound advanced after data showed that the U.K. construction purchasing managers’ index rose to 59.4 last month, the highest level since September 2007, from 58.9 in September.
Analysts were expecting an unchanged reading.
The dollar was down against the yen, with USD/JPY down 0.13% at 98.58, and down against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF down 0.31% at 0.9094.
The dollar was down against its cousins in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with USD/CAD down 0.02% at 1.0421, AUD/USD up 0.74% at 0.9506 and NZD/USD trading up 0.25% at 0.8280.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.21% at 80.63.
On Tuesday in the U.S., the Institute of Supply Management is to release a report on service-sector activity.