Forexpros – The U.S. dollar was lower against its major counterparts on Wednesday, as hopes for progress in tackling the debt crisis in the euro zone boosted demand for riskier assets.
During European morning trade, the dollar was down against the euro, with EUR/USD rising 0.16% to hit 1.3424.
European leaders are due to discuss changes to EU treaties which would allow for greater fiscal integration and stricter enforcement of budgetary discipline in the single currency bloc.
Meanwhile, investors were also eyeing the European Central Bank’s policy decision on Thursday, as the bank is likely to cut interest rates by 0.25% to 1%.
The greenback was also lower against the pound, with GBP/USD advancing 0.13% to hit 1.5621.
But sterling’s gains were limited after official data showed that manufacturing production in the U.K. declined more-than-expected in October, falling 0.7% after a 0.1% rise the previous month.
Analysts had expected manufacturing production to fall 0.1%.
Industrial production fell more-than-expected in October.
Elsewhere, the greenback was steady against the yen and lower against the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY inching down 0.02% to hit 77.71, and USD/CHF shedding 0.10% to hit 0.9249.
The greenback was also lower against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD falling 0.02% to hit 1.0100, AUD/USD climbing 0.26% to hit 1.0273 and NZD/USD advancing 0.07% to hit 0.7804.
Earlier Wednesday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said that gross domestic product grew by 1% from the second quarter, slightly below expectations for 1.2% expansion, but up 2.5% from a year earlier.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.13% to hit 78.53.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release government data on crude oil stockpiles.
Forexpros
