Forex Pros – The U.S. dollar was down against most of its major rivals on Tuesday, as higher oil prices weighed while signs of progress in resolving Japan’s nuclear crisis boosted demand for riskier assets.
During European morning trade, the greenback was slightly higher against the yen, with USD/JPY easing up 0.12% to hit 81.11.
Earlier Tuesday, Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, said it expected workers to restore power to parts of the building housing the most damaged reactors later in the day.
But the greenback was down against the euro and the pound, with EUR/USD rising 0.10% to hit 1.4239 and GBP/USD climbing 0.37% to hit 1.6372.
Official data showed earlier that consumer prices in the U.K. rose more-than-expected in February, while a separate report showed that public sector borrowing jumped last month.
The greenback was slightly lower against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF slipping 0.07% to hit 0.9039.
Earlier in the day, official data showed that Switzerland’s trade surplus widened more-than-expected in February.
In addition, the greenback was down against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD sliding 0.18% to hit 0.9760, AUD/USD advancing 0.44% to hit 1.0108 and NZD/USD surging 0.95% to hit 0.7426.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.11%.
Also Tuesday, Japan’s Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda said the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations would continue to cooperate after a joint intervention to curb the yen’s record gains last week brought a degree of certainty back to the market.
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