Forex Pros – The U.S. dollar was broadly lower against its major counterparts on Wednesday, while the euro advanced, boosted by hopes for an agreement on Greek austerity plans and progress towards a bailout package.
During European morning trade, the greenback was lower against the euro, with EUR/USD rising 0.23% to hit 1.4427.
Greek media outlets reported earlier that the Greek government’s mid-term fiscal plans were expected to be finalized by Wednesday night or Thursday morning.
But the greenback was higher against the pound, with GBP/USD shedding 0.21% to hit 1.6410.
Earlier in the day, official data showed that manufacturing activity in the U.K. declined more-than-expected in May.
Meanwhile, the greenback was down against the yen and the Swiss franc with USD/JPY sliding 0.19% to hit 81.36 and USD/CHF tumbling 0.66% to hit 0.8482.
Official data released earlier showed that Swiss retail sales surged in April, while Swiss manufacturing activity rose unexpectedly this month.
In addition, the greenback was lower against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD dipping 0.04% to hit 0.9678, AUD/USD climbing 0.59% to hit 1.0734 and NZD/USD easing up 0.05% to hit 0.8241.
The Aussie was boosted after government data showed that the nation’s economic growth contracted less-than-expected in the first quarter.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.60%.
Later Wednesday, U.S. payroll processing firm ADP was to publish its report on non-farm payrolls. Elsewhere, the U.S. Institute of Supply Management was to publish data on manufacturing activity.
ForexPros.com
