Forex Pros – The U.S. dollar was up against most of its major counterparts on Wednesday, as optimism over a vote of confidence for Greece’s government faded and as investors shifted their focus to the Federal Reserve’s rate decision and briefing.
During European morning trade, the greenback was up against the euro, with EUR/USD shedding 0.18% to hit 1.4384.
Greece’s parliament supported Prime Minister George Papandreou’s new cabinet on Tuesday, wining the support of 155 out of 300 parliament members.
However, markets remained cautious as Greek lawmakers still needed to support next week’s vote on new austerity measures, which include harsh spending cuts and new taxes over the next five years.
The greenback was also broadly higher against the pound, with GBP/USD dropping 0.7% to hit 1.6132.
The Bank of England published the minutes of its June 9 policy setting meeting earlier, showing that MPC members voted 7-2 to keep rates on hold at a record low of 0.5%. Policy makers voted 6-3 to keep interest rates on hold in May.
Meanwhile, the greenback was up slightly against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY easing up 0.02% to hit 80.22 and USD/CHF rising 0.13% to hit 0.8417.
Earlier Wednesday, a report showed that Swiss investor confidence dropped sharply in June, as the ongoing euro zone debt crisis and the stronger franc weighed.
Elsewhere, the greenback was up against its Australian and Canadian counterparts, but down against its New Zealand cousin, with AUD/USD shedding 0.2% to hit 1.0585, USD/CAD advancing 0.35% to hit 0.9745, while NZD/USD rose 0.33% to hit 0.8153.
Official data released earlier in the day showed that New Zealand’s current account deficit narrowed unexpectedly in the first quarter, falling to NZD0.10 billion from a deficit of NZD3.63 billion in the preceding quarter. Analysts had expected the current account deficit to widen to NZD3.9 billion.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.23% to trade at 75.18.
Later Wednesday, the Federal Reserve was to announce its federal funds rate. The announcement will be followed with a press conference by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke to discuss the bank’s rate statement.
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