Forex Pros – The U.S. dollar was broadly lower against its major counterparts on Wednesday, as market sentiment strengthened, spurring increased demand for riskier assets.
During European morning trade, the greenback was lower against the euro, with EUR/USD rising 0.22% to hit 1.4509.
The greenback was also lower against the pound, with GBP/USD easing up 0.12% to hit 1.6278.
Earlier in the day, official data showed that the jobless rate in the U.K. unexpectedly fell to 7.8% in March, the first fall since September, but the number of people claiming unemployment benefits in the U.K. rose unexpectedly.
Elsewhere, the greenback was up against the yen but was almost unchanged against the Swiss franc with USD/JPY climbing 0.45% to hit 83.95 and USD/CHF dipping 0.01% to hit 0.8968.
Earlier Wednesday, official data showed that Swiss producer price inflation rose in line with expectations in March.
Meanwhile, the greenback was lower against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand cousins, with USD/CAD slipping 0.09% to hit 0.9617, AUD/USD rising 0.51% to hit 1.0492 and NZD/USD rallying 0.74% to hit 0.7895.
Earlier in the day, data showed that Australian consumer confidence rebounded in April, while a separate report said that house price in New Zealand rose for a second month in March.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.12%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish government data on retail sales and crude oil inventories, while the Federal Reserve was to publish its Beige Book.