Forexpros – The U.S. dollar remained broadly lower against its major counterparts on Thursday, after the European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged while investors eyed an upcoming Greek debt swap deal.
During European afternoon trade, the dollar was lower against the euro, with EUR/USD climbing 0.77% to hit 1.3251.
In a widely expected move, the ECB left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 1% for the third consecutive month in March.
Sentiment on the euro strengthened earlier after data showed that German industrial production rebounded in January after a steep drop the previous month, climbing 1.6% and surpassing expectations for a 1.1% increase.
Meanwhile, prospects for a successful Greek debt swap deal rose amid reports that a number of major European financial institutions had signed up to the deal, which is aimed at writing down 53.5% of the country’s EUR177 billion debt.
A positive outcome should clear the way for Greece to tap a second bailout package and avert a messy debt default.
The greenback was also lower against the pound, with GBP/USD rising 0.38% to hit 1.5800.
The Bank of England kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a record low of 0.5%, where it has been since March 2009, and announced no expansion to its GBP325 billion asset purchase program, following a GBP50 billion increase in the previous month.
The greenback was higher against the yen but lower against the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY advancing 0.76% to hit 81.70 and USD/CHF sliding 0.79% to hit 0.9094.
The yen came under pressure earlier after data showed that Japan’s current account balance swung to a record deficit of JPY437.3 billion in January, prompting Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa to reiterate that the bank was prepared to loosen monetary policy again if needed to support the economy.
A separate report confirmed that Japan’s gross domestic product contracted by 0.2% in the last three months of 2011, in line with earlier estimates.
In Switzerland, government data showed that consumer price inflation rose more-than-expected in February, ticking up 0.3% after a 0.4% decline the previous month.
Elsewhere, the greenback was lower against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD declining 0.23% to hit 0.9952, AUD/USD advancing 0.60% to hit 1.0648 and NZD/USD jumping 1.15% to hit 0.8257.
Earlier in the day, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 2.50%, saying that the sustained strength of the New Zealand dollar would eliminate the need for rate increases in the coming months.
Meanwhile, official data showed that the number of employed people in Australia fell by 15,400 in February, disappointing expectations for a gain of 5,000 jobs, while the unemployment rate ticked up to 5.2% from 5.1% the previous month.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, fell 0.47% to hit 79.34.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to produce government data on initial jobless claims.
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