Forex Pros – The U.S. dollar higher against most of its major counterparts on Thursday, after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke gave no signals of any further monetary easing after the current program ends later this month.
During European morning trade, the greenback was up against the euro, with EUR/USD shedding 0.58% to hit 1.4271.
Earlier in the day, preliminary data showed that manufacturing activity in Germany fell more-than-expected in June, dropping to the lowest level since September 2010.
The greenback was also higher against the pound, with GBP/USD slipping 0.15% to hit 1.6177.
The pound weakened broadly after the minutes of this month’s Bank of England policy meeting showed policymakers believed the growth outlook had weakened and some believed more stimulus may be needed.
Meanwhile, the greenback was higher against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY rising 0.32% to hit 80.55 and USD/CHF easing up 0.15% to hit 0.8402.
Elsewhere, the greenback was down against its Canadian counterpart but higher against its Australian and New Zealand cousins, with USD/CAD slipping 0.15% to hit 0.9720, AUD/USD shedding 0.37% to hit 1.0533 and NZD/USD dipping 0.04% to hit 0.8140.
Earlier Thursday, New Zealand’s government offered to buy approximately 5,000 earthquake-damaged homes in Christchurch as part of a recovery package.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.45%.
Later Thursday, the U.S. was to publish government data on initial jobless claims, as well as official data on new home sales.
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