Forex Pros – The U.S. dollar was broadly lower against its major counterparts on Thursday, as risk appetite recovered following reports of possible Chinese interest in buying bailout bonds for Portugal.
During European afternoon trade, the greenback was down against the euro, with EUR/USD climbing 0.65% to hit 1.4180.
On Wednesday, European Financial Stability Facility Chief Executive Officer Klaus Regling said China was “clearly interested” in buying Portuguese bailout bonds when the EFSF sells them in June.
The greenback was also lower against the pound, with GBP/USD rising 0.23% to hit 1.6311.
Meanwhile, the greenback was lower against the yen and the Swiss franc with USD/JPY slipping 0.12% to hit 81.86 and USD/CHF shedding 0.22% to hit 0.8705.
Government data showed earlier that number of people employed in Switzerland rose more-than-expected in the first quarter, while a separate report showed that the country’s trade surplus widened less-than-expected in April.
In addition, the greenback was lower against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD dipping 0.02% to hit 0.9770, AUD/USD climbing 0.41% to hit 1.0577 and NZD/USD jumping 1.23% to hit 0.8085.
Earlier in the day, official data showed that Australian capital spending rose more-than-expected in the March quarter.
Elsewhere, media outlets in New Zealand reported that a massive Chinese corporation planned to invest in New Zealand assets, while the country’s finance minister said the country planned to double exports to China within four years.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.49%.
Later Thursday, the U.S. was to publish revised government data on first quarter economic growth as well as a weekly report on initial jobless claims.
ForexPros.com
