Investing.com - The U.S. dollar fell on Wednesday after disappointing jobless claims and factory orders pointed to sluggish economic growth.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six major currencies, inched down 0.1% to 96.222 at 10:30 AM ET (14:30 GMT).
The ADP (NASDAQ:ADP) payrolls data showed that the private sector only added 102,000 jobs in June versus the 140,000 that were expected.
The numbers, which are considered a precursor to Friday’s much more comprehensive jobs report, support the case for the Federal Reserve cutting rates.
Other numbers were also supportive of the central bank easing monetary policy, with factory orders for May down 0.7% and the ISM non-manufacturing index falling to 55.1 in June.
The Fed opened up the door at its last policy meeting for a rate cut this year and is expected to cut rates by 25 basis points in July.
The dollar was lower against the Japanese yen, with USD/JPY falling 0.2% to 107.69 as demand for the safe-haven asset grew. The euro rose with EUR/USD up 0.1% to 1.1297, while GBP/USD slipped 0.1% to 1.2576 and USD/CAD inched down 0.2% to 1.3070.
Trading is expected to be thin as markets close early and remain closed on Thursday for Independence Day.