Forexpros – The U.S. dollar was steady against its major counterparts on Tuesday, as sentiment on the euro continued to be weighed by fears over ratings downgrades after European leaders failed to produce concrete plans to tackle the debt crisis in the region.
During European morning trade, the dollar inched higher against the euro, with EUR/USD dipping 0.05% to hit 1.3183.
On Monday, ratings agency Moody’s said it would review ratings of all European Union member states in the first quarter of 2012, while Fitch Ratings said Friday’s EU summit had failed to provide a “comprehensive” solution to the debt crisis.
Meanwhile, concerns over mass euro zone downgrades persisted after ratings agency Standard and Poor’s placed 15 euro zone nations on review for a potential downgrade ahead of the summit last week.
But the greenback slipped against the pound, with GBP/USD easing up 0.08% to hit 1.5594.
In the U.K., official data showed that consumer price inflation declined in line with expectations in November, easing to 4.8% year-on-year, supporting the Bank of England’s view that inflation will moderate.
Elsewhere, the greenback was lower against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY sliding 0.11% to hit 77.84, and USD/CHF dipping 0.01% to hit 0.9371.
Earlier Tuesday, Japan’s Finance Minister Jun Azumi said European leaders should do more to resolve the debt crisis, before asking for funds from the International Monetary Fund.
Elsewhere, the greenback was broadly lower against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD easing up 0.02% to hit 1.0276, AUD/USD adding 0.23% to hit 1.0096 and NZD/USD inching up 0.03% to hit 0.7632.
The National Australia Bank said earlier that its index of business confidence remained unchanged in November, supported by mining as well as the retail and services sectors.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, dipped 0.04% but remained close to a two-month high at 80.22.
Later in the day, the Federal Reserve was to announce its federal funds rate, while the U.S. was also to release official data on retail sales.
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