Forexpros – The U.S. dollar was broadly lower against its major counterparts on Thursday, as the euro regained ground after a successful Italian bond auction supported demand for higher yielding assets.
During European afternoon trade, the dollar was lower against the euro, with EUR/USD rising 0.67% to hit 1.3634.
Italy’s Treasury auctioned EUR5 billion of one-year government bonds at an average yield of 6.08%, the highest since September 1997, but still well below analyst expectations of 7%.
Following the auction, the yield on 10-year Italian bonds fell back below the 7% mark, a level widely considered unsustainable for continued borrowing.
Meanwhile, former European Central Bank vice-president Lucas Papademos was named as Greece’s new interim prime minister, following days of talks amid a scramble to avert an imminent Greek default.
The greenback was also lower against the pound, with GBP/USD rising 0.34% to hit 1.5968.
Earlier in the day, the Bank of England left interest rates unchanged at a record low of 0.5% and announced no fresh monetary easing measures.
Elsewhere, the greenback was lower against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY sliding 0.29% to hit 77.58, and USD/CHF tumbling 0.70% to hit 0.9031.
In Japan, official data showed that core machinery orders declined more-than-expected in September, falling 8.2% after a 11.0% increase the previous month. Analysts had expected core machinery orders to fall 7.3% in September.
In addition, the greenback was down against its Canadian and Australian counterparts but inched higher against its New Zealand cousin, with USD/CAD shedding 0.60% to hit 1.0183, AUD/USD rising 0.44% to hit 1.0188 and NZD/USD dipping 0.04% to hit 0.7811.
In Australia, official data showed that the number of employed people rose by 10,100 in October, in line with expectations, while the unemployment rate ticked down to 5.2% after a reading of 5.3% in September.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.52% to hit 77.72.
Also Thursday, the ECB halved its estimate for growth in the euro zone next year. The bank said it now expects the region’s gross domestic product to expand by just 0.8% in 2012, down from a previous forecast of 1.6%.
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