Forex -Greenback lower on weak U.S. data, easing euro worries

Investing.com - The U.S. dollar traded down against its major counterparts Tuesday, as the release of weaker-than-expected U.S. economic data pressured the greenback in the midst of easing euro zone debt worries.

During U.S. morning trade, the dollar was down against the euro, with EUR/USD adding 0.28% to hit 1.3193.

The euro extended gains against the greenback as official data indicated that U.S. new home sales fell by 7.1% to a seasonally adjusted 328,000 units in March, only slightly better than expectations for a decline to 320,000.

The data was reported after a release indicating  U.S. home prices fell to the lowest level since 2002 in February.

Standard & Poor’s  Case-Shiller house price index fell at an annualized rate of 3.5% in February from a year earlier, compared to expectations for a 3.4% decline.

The euro gathered support after an auction of Dutch government debt earlier in the day met with solid investor demand, but fears that the country could lose its triple-A credit rating lingered following the collapse of the government on Monday.

Sentiment on the shared currency also remained fragile after an auction of Spanish bills saw the country’s short-term borrowing costs almost double, one day after Spain’s central bank confirmed that the country’s economy entered a recession in the first quarter.

The greenback was hovering close to a five-month low against the broadly stronger pound, with GBP/USD easing up 0.04% to hit 1.6137.

Official data showed that U.K. public sector borrowing rose more-than-expected last month, while the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio rose to a record high 8.3%.

Sterling continued to remain supported by diminished expectations for another round of monetary easing by the Bank of England. 

Elsewhere, the greenback slipped lower against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY dipping 0.02% to hit 81.16 and USD/CHF shedding 0.39% to hit 0.9099.

The greenback was broadly weaker against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, USD/CAD  sliding 0.35% to hit 0.9878, AUD/USD dipping 0.04% to hit 1.0315 and NZD/USD adding 0.19% to hit 0.8145.

In Canada, official data showed that retail sales declined for the first time in six months in February as new automobile sales fell sharply, while core retail sales rose less-than-expected.

The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.28% at 79.25.

Also Tuesday, data showed that U.S. consumer confidence declined unexpectedly in April, moving further off February’s 12-month high.

The Conference Board, a market research group said its index of consumer confidence ticked down to 69.2 from a downwardly revised reading of 69.5 in March. Analysts had expected the index to ease up to 69.7 in April.