By Yasin Ebrahim
Investing.com – The U.S. dollar found its footing on Wednesday as better-than-expected services and private labor data eased recession fears at a time when many are fretting about the impact of the coronavirus spread in the U.S.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, fell by 0.19% to 97.34.
ISM nonmanufacturing data for February showed an uptick to 57.3, beating expectations of 54.9. This represents the highest reading for the service sector index since February 2019.
Ahead of the key nonfarm payrolls report, meanwhile, the private labor market generated a better-than-expected 183,000 jobs in February.
The dollar was also boosted by weakness in the loonie as the Bank of Canada slashed rates by 50 basis points to cushion the impact from the spread of the coronavirus on the economy.
USD/CAD rose 0.12% to C$1.3399.
The rate cut was largely expected, however, particularly after the Fed's emergency 50-basis-point cut yesterday, RBC said.
"With today's statement leaving the door wide open to further easing, we still think the BoC is likely to cut in April in addition to today's larger-than-expected move," RBC added.
GBP/USD rose 0.46% to $1.2886 amid reports that UK-EU trade talks were off to a good start.