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Dollar rangebound amid caution over global outlook

Published 04/03/2012, 04:44 AM
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Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was trading in a narrow range against its global counterparts on Tuesday, after Monday’s robust U.S. manufacturing data bolstered risk appetite but market sentiment continued to be weighed by concerns over the outlook for the euro zone.
 
During European morning trade, the dollar was slightly lower against the euro, with EUR/USD adding 0.15% to hit 1.3339.
 
The euro remained under pressure after data on Monday showed that manufacturing activity in the euro zone remained in contraction territory for the eighth successive month in March, while a separate report showed that the bloc’s unemployment rate ticked up to a record high of 10.8% in February.
 
The greenback was trading close to a four-and-a-half month low against the pound, with GBP/USD inching up 0.05% to hit 1.6030.
 
The pound found support after a report earlier showed that the U.K. construction sector expanded at the fastest rate in 21 months in March, one day after strong U.K. manufacturing data eased investor concerns over the threat of a recession.
 
The greenback was lower against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY dipping 0.04% to hit 82.04 and USD/CHF sliding 0.15% to hit 0.9023.
 
In Japan, official data showed that the monetary base fell at an annualized rate of 0.2% in March after increasing by 11.3% the previous month, underlining concerns over the risk of deflation.
 
Elsewhere, the greenback was broadly higher against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD inching up 0.02% to hit 0.9906, AUD/USD shedding 0.35% to hit 1.0382 and NZD/USD down 0.12% to hit 0.8223.
 
The Reserve Bank of Australia left interest rates on hold at 4.25% following its policy meeting earlier, but indicated that it may cut interest rates as soon as next month, amid concerns that the economy is now growing at a slower than average rate.
 
Earlier Tuesday, official data showed that Australian retail sales rose 0.2% in February, in line with expectations, after a 0.3% increase the previous month.
 
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, slid 0.08% to hit 78.93.

Later in the day, the U.S. was to release official data on factory orders, while the Federal Reserve was to release the minutes of its March policy meeting.

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