Forexpros – The U.S. dollar was broadly lower against its major counterparts on Tuesday, after ratings agencies said the failure to reach a deal to slash the U.S. deficit would not automatically lead to credit downgrades.
During European morning trade, the dollar was lower against the euro, with EUR/USD rising 0.27% to hit 1.3526.
The euro found support after Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said earlier that euro zone officials would make a decision regarding the next tranche of Greek aid as soon as November 29.
But the greenback edged higher against the pound, with GBP/USD slipping 0.09% to hit 1.5627.
In the U.K., official data showed that public sector net borrowing fell more-than-expected in October, declining to GBP3.4 billion from GBP10.2 billion the previous month.
The greenback was slightly higher against the yen but fell against the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY easing up 0.12% to hit 76.97 and USD/CHF shedding 0.40% to hit 0.9135.
Earlier in the day, the dollar jumped against the yen after remarks by Japan’s Finance Minister Jun Azumi were interpreted by some traders as hinting at more intervention by Japan.
Meanwhile, official data showed that Switzerland’s trade surplus widened more-than-expected in October, as the strong franc continued to put pressure on export growth.
Elsewhere, the greenback weakened against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand cousins, with USD/CAD dipping 0.07% to hit 1.0391, AUD/USD rising 0.19% to hit 0.9861 and NZD/USD adding 0.24% to hit 0.7484.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, slid 0.09% to hit 78.39.
In the U.S., ratings agency Fitch said the failure of a congressional committee to agree on a package of measures to slash the U.S. deficit was likely to lead to a revision of the rating outlook to ‘negative’, rather than a downgrade.
Later Tuesday, the U.S. was to release preliminary data on gross domestic product, while the U.S. Federal Reserve was to publish the minutes of its November policy meeting.
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