Forexpros – The U.S. dollar was modestly lower against its major counterparts Tuesday, as hopes that European officials will make some progress on tackling the region’s debt crisis supported demand for riskier assets.
During European morning trade, the dollar was down against the euro, with EUR/USD rising 0.15% to hit 1.3340.
Euro zone finance ministers were to meet later on Tuesday and were expected to approve plans to expand the scope of the euro zone’s bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility. They were also expected to release Greece’s next tranche of financial aid.
But investors remained cautious following French media reports that Standard & Poor’s could downgrade France’s triple-A rating outlook to negative within days.
The greenback was also lower against the pound, with GBP/USD advancing 0.33% to hit 1.5564.
Earlier in the day, the Bank of England said net lending to individuals rose by GBP1.3 billion in October, above expectations for GBP1.0 billion.
The report also showed that the number of final mortgage approvals rose more-than-expected in October, climbing to 53,000 from 51,000 in September. Analysts had expected final mortgage approvals to rise by 52,000.
Elsewhere, the greenback was down against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY falling 0.19% to hit 77.82, and USD/CHF edging down 0.02% to hit 0.9221.
In Switzerland, a report by UBS bank showed that its consumption indicator eased up to 0.91 in October from 0.82 the previous month.
Meanwhile, Japan’s finance minister pledged to achieve “more appropriate” yen levels, signaling that sharp rises in the currency will trigger additional monetary stimulus.
The greenback was also lower against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD shedding 0.06% to hit 1.0332, AUD/USD advancing 0.75% to hit 0.9980 and NZD/USD climbing 0.39% to hit 0.7581.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.29% to hit 79.16.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release industry data on house price inflation as well as a report on consumer confidence.
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