Forex Pros – The U.S. dollar was down against most of its major counterparts on Thursday, amid concerns that higher oil prices, fuelled by the ongoing unrest in Libya, will weigh on the U.S. economic recovery.
During European morning trade, the greenback was down against the euro, with EUR/USD climbing 0.34% to hit 1.3795.
Earlier in the day, Brent crude oil for April delivery was trading at USD116.51 a barrel, its highest level since August 2008, while the Nymex April contract was trading at USD102 a barrel, the highest since September 2008.
But the greenback was slightly higher against the pound, with GBP/USD dipping 0.09% to hit 1.6194.
Elsewhere, the greenback was sharply lower against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY tumbling 0.85% to hit 81.81 and USD/CHF plunging 0.91% to hit 0.9246.
In addition, the greenback was down against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD dropping 0.61% to hit 0.9834, AUD/USD climbing 0.38% to hit 1.006 and NZD/USD climbing 0.3% to hit 0.7477.
Earlier in the day, Australian data showed that business investment climbed to a record in the final three months of 2010 and an index of leading indicators increased in December.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.41%.
Later Thursday, the U.S. was to publish reports on durable goods orders and initial jobless claims, as well as data on new home sales.
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