Investing.com - The greenback fell on Wednesday as weak payrolls data underlined worries over the strength of the economy.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six major currencies, fell 0.2% to 96.70 as of 9:24 AM ET (14:24 GMT).
Payment processor ADP (NASDAQ:ADP) said that U.S. private sector posted its lowest job growth in 18 months. The weak numbers support the Federal Reserve extending a pause on rate hikes, as the central bank remains concerned about slowing domestic growth.
“Businesses are hiring cautiously as the economy is struggling with fading fiscal stimulus, the trade uncertainty, and the lagged impact of Fed tightening,” Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, said in a statement.
“If employment growth weakens much further, unemployment will begin to rise,” he added
The dollar rose against the safe-haven yen, with USD/JPY gaining 0.1% to 111.43.
Elsewhere, sterling recovered slightly as Prime Minister Theresa May prepares to meet with the leader of the opposition, Jeremy Corbyn, in an attempt to stop a Brexit impasse in parliament. GBP/USD was up 0.2% to 1.3145.
The U.K. had originally been due to leave the EU on March 29, but the deadline was pushed back to April 12 to allow the U.K. parliament more time to approve the withdrawal agreement. But the agreement has failed to win a majority three times.
The prime minister is expected to ask the EU for an extension to May 22.
Elsewhere, USD/CAD fell 0.1% to 1.3330 and EUR/USD gained 0.3% to 1.1230.