Forexpros – The U.S. dollar was broadly lower against its major counterparts on Thursday, as the euro regained ground amid speculation that the European Central Bank was buying Italian and Spanish bonds, while markets looked ahead to a key auction of Italian government debt.
During European morning trade, the dollar was lower against the euro, with EUR/USD rising 0.52% to hit 1.3612.
The euro posted its largest one-day loss against the greenback in 15-months on Wednesday after the yield on 10-year Italian government bonds rose above 7%, the level at which Greece, Ireland and Portugal sought international bailouts.
Italy was to auction EUR5 billion in one-year Treasury bills later in the day, in what was being viewed as a key test of investor appetite for the country’s debt.
The greenback was almost unchanged against the pound, with GBP/USD inching up 0.04% to hit 1.5922.
Elsewhere, the greenback was lower against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY slipping 0.15% to hit 77.69, and USD/CHF down 0.35% to hit 0.9063.
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.
Meanwhile, the greenback was down against its Canadian and Australian counterparts but higher against its New Zealand cousin, with USD/CAD shedding 0.28% to hit 1.0216, AUD/USD inching up 0.03% to hit 1.0147 and NZD/USD sliding 0.26% to hit 0.7793.
Earlier in the day, official data showed that the number of employed people in Australia rose by 10,100 in October, in line with expectations, while the unemployment rate declined more-than-expected, ticking 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 0.27% to hit 77.91.
Later Thursday, the U.S. was to release official data on jobless claims as well as a report on the trade balance.
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