Investing.com - The dollar weakened against most major currencies on Wednesday after solid U.S. data, reassuring words from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and healthy turnout at an Italian bond auction enticed investors out of the safe-haven greenback.
In U.S. trading on Wednesday, EUR/USD was up 0.53% at 1.3133.
Bernanke told the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday and the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday that loose monetary policies haven't paved the way to asset bubbles swelling in financial markets or more pronounced inflationary pressures, adding that housing may be turning a corner and finally on its way to better days.
The Federal Reserve is currently running a USD85 billion monthly bond-buying program, a monetary stimulus tool known as quantitative easing that weakens the dollar to spur the economy, which pushes up gold prices and weakens the dollar as side effects.
The Fed has also said near-zero interest rates will stick around for a while, and market sentiment that loose policies will stay in place for now kept the dollar lower on Wednesday as did solid economic indicators.
In the U.S. earlier, the Commerce Department reported that order for durable goods dropped 5.2% in January compared with market calls for a decline of 4.4%.
However, core durable goods orders, which exclude volatile transportation items, rose 1.9% last month, beating expectations for a 0.2% increase.
Meanwhile, the National Association of Realtors reported that its pending home sales index rose by 4.5% in January, beating expectations for a 1.5% gain.
Elsewhere in Europe, Italy sold a target EUR6.5 billion in five and 10-year bonds just two days after Italian elections wrapped up with no party in control of the Senate, which spooked investors and raised concerns that a political uncertainty could lead to a dismantling of economic reforms and a rekindling of the European debt crisis.
The yield on Italian 10-year bonds rose to 4.83%, the highest since October, from 4.17% at a similar auction last month.
Still, solid turnout fueled some demand for risk and eased concerns political instability may arise in Italy, which came at the dollar's expense.
The greenback, meanwhile, was down against the pound, with GBP/USD trading up 0.14% at 1.5148.
The dollar rose against the yen, with USD/JPY trading up 0.35% at 92.30, and was down against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF trading down 0.08% at 0.9312.
The dollar was down against its cousins in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with USD/CAD down 0.24% at 1.0233, AUD/USD up 0.11% at 1.0240 and NZD/USD trading up 0.37% at 0.8278.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.29% at 81.66.
On Thursday, the U.S. is to release revised data on fourth-quarter economic growth in addition to the weekly government report on initial jobless claims and official data on manufacturing activity in Chicago.
In U.S. trading on Wednesday, EUR/USD was up 0.53% at 1.3133.
Bernanke told the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday and the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday that loose monetary policies haven't paved the way to asset bubbles swelling in financial markets or more pronounced inflationary pressures, adding that housing may be turning a corner and finally on its way to better days.
The Federal Reserve is currently running a USD85 billion monthly bond-buying program, a monetary stimulus tool known as quantitative easing that weakens the dollar to spur the economy, which pushes up gold prices and weakens the dollar as side effects.
The Fed has also said near-zero interest rates will stick around for a while, and market sentiment that loose policies will stay in place for now kept the dollar lower on Wednesday as did solid economic indicators.
In the U.S. earlier, the Commerce Department reported that order for durable goods dropped 5.2% in January compared with market calls for a decline of 4.4%.
However, core durable goods orders, which exclude volatile transportation items, rose 1.9% last month, beating expectations for a 0.2% increase.
Meanwhile, the National Association of Realtors reported that its pending home sales index rose by 4.5% in January, beating expectations for a 1.5% gain.
Elsewhere in Europe, Italy sold a target EUR6.5 billion in five and 10-year bonds just two days after Italian elections wrapped up with no party in control of the Senate, which spooked investors and raised concerns that a political uncertainty could lead to a dismantling of economic reforms and a rekindling of the European debt crisis.
The yield on Italian 10-year bonds rose to 4.83%, the highest since October, from 4.17% at a similar auction last month.
Still, solid turnout fueled some demand for risk and eased concerns political instability may arise in Italy, which came at the dollar's expense.
The greenback, meanwhile, was down against the pound, with GBP/USD trading up 0.14% at 1.5148.
The dollar rose against the yen, with USD/JPY trading up 0.35% at 92.30, and was down against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF trading down 0.08% at 0.9312.
The dollar was down against its cousins in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with USD/CAD down 0.24% at 1.0233, AUD/USD up 0.11% at 1.0240 and NZD/USD trading up 0.37% at 0.8278.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.29% at 81.66.
On Thursday, the U.S. is to release revised data on fourth-quarter economic growth in addition to the weekly government report on initial jobless claims and official data on manufacturing activity in Chicago.