Investing.com - The dollar remained supported close to 11-month highs against the other major currencies on Thursday as concerns over the outlook for growth in the euro zone weighed on market sentiment.
Concerns over the impact of economic sanctions against Russia escalated on Wednesday after data showed that Italy unexpectedly slid back into a recession in the second quarter and German factory orders fell unexpectedly in June.
EUR/USD dipped 0.08% to 1.3371, holding above Wednesday’s nine-month lows of 1.3332.
Investors were awaiting the ECB’s rate statement later Thursday, as concerns over the divergence in monetary policy between it and its major peers continued to weigh on the single currency.
The ECB was expected to keep monetary policy unchanged after it cut rates to record lows in June in a bid to avert the threat of deflation in the region.
The yen was lower against the dollar, with USD/JPY rising 0.20% to 102.30 after Japan’s public pension fund announced plans to increase its holdings in the domestic stock market.
The dollar also pushed higher against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF easing up 0.12% to 0.9086.
The pound edged lower ahead of the Bank of England’s monetary policy announcement later in the day, with GBP/USD slipping 0.09% to 1.6838.
While the BoE has indicated that interest rates could rise sooner than markets expect if the recovery continues it was expected to keep monetary policy unchanged at the conclusion of its two day rate review on Thursday.
The Australian dollar was sharply lower, with AUD/USD down 0.87% to a two month low of 0.9276 after official data on Thursday showed that jobs growth slowed in July.
The Australian economy shed 300 last month, confounding expectations for an increase of 12,000.
Elsewhere, NZD/USD eased 0.12% to 0.8467 and USD/CAD rose 0.14% to 1.0931.
The US Dollar Index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.11% to 81.58 not far from Wednesday’s 11-month highs of 81.78.