Forex Pros – The U.S. dollar was broadly lower against its major counterparts on Thursday, as a string of weaker-than-expected U.S. data fuelled speculation that the Federal Reserve may continue monetary easing in the months ahead.
During European morning trade, the greenback was lower against the euro, with EUR/USD rising 0.40% to hit 1.4387.
On Wednesday, Moody’s cut Greece’s sovereign rating from B1 to Caa1, only four notches above the default level.
The greenback was also slightly lower against the pound, with GBP/USD inching up 0.04% to hit 1.6339.
Data released earlier showed that construction sector activity in the U.K. rose more-than-expected in May.
Meanwhile, the greenback was down against the yen but up against the Swiss franc with USD/JPY dipping 0.02% to hit 80.93 and USD/CHF gaining 0.31% to hit 0.8445.
Earlier in the day, Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan survived a no-confidence vote, by offering to resign once the country’s worst crisis since World War II is under control.
Elsewhere, the greenback was higher against its Canadian and New Zealand counterparts but lower against its Australian cousin, with USD/CAD climbing 0.23% to hit 0.9792, NZD/USD slipping 0.12% to hit 0.8134 and AUD/USD easing up 0.13% to hit 1.0627.
Earlier Thursday, official data showed that Australian retail sales rose by the most in 17 months in April, as the economy recovered from its worst quarterly contraction in two decades.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.18%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish its weekly report on initial jobless claims, as well as revised data on non-farm productivity and labor costs. The country was also to publish official data on factory orders.
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