Forex Pros – The U.S. dollar was broadly lower against its major counterparts on Thursday, amid concerns over the faltering pace of the U.S. economic recovery and ahead of a key policy setting meeting by the European Central Bank.
During European morning trade, the greenback was down against the euro, with EUR/USD rising 0.31% to hit 1.4629.
The ECB was not expected to increase its benchmark interest rate but bank head Jean-Claude Trichet was widely expected to signal that the bank would raise its minimum bid rate in July.
The greenback was also down against the pound, with GBP/USD climbing 0.27% to hit 1.6445.
Earlier Thursday, official data showed that the U.K. trade deficit narrowed slightly more-than-expected in April.
Meanwhile, the greenback was higher against the yen and the Swiss franc with USD/JPY rising 0.23% to hit 80.07 and USD/CHF inching up 0.04% to hit 0.8363.
Earlier in the day, revised data showed Japan’s economy contracted by 0.9% in the first quarter, unchanged from the initial estimate as the March 11 earthquake and tsunami disrupted factory production.
Elsewhere, the greenback was down against its Canadian and New Zealand counterparts, but up against its Australian cousin, with USD/CAD slipping 0.17% to hit 0.9776, NZD/USD jumping 0.98% to hit 0.8229 and AUD/USD shedding 0.25% to hit 1.0596.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand left its official cash rate unchanged at 2.5% earlier Thursday, but indicated that rates will need to rise over the next two years to curb inflation.
Elsewhere, official data showed that Australian employment growth slowed sharply in May and full time employment declined.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.29%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish official data on its trade balance as well as a weekly government report on initial jobless claims.
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