Forexpros – The U.S. dollar down against most of its major counterparts on Wednesday, as risk aversion eased amid hopes that European leaders will reach a deal to resolve Greece’s debt problems later in the week.
During European morning trade, the greenback was weaker against the euro, with EUR/USD climbing 0.23% to hit 1.4190.
On Thursday, euro zone leaders were to hold an emergency summit meeting, aimed at addressing the region’s sovereign debt woes.
The greenback was unchanged against the pound, with GBP/USD trading flat at 1.6123.
The minutes of the Bank of England’s July monetary policy meeting released earlier showed that policymakers voted 7-2 to keep rates unchanged at 0.5%.
Meanwhile, the greenback was down against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY shedding 0.40% to hit 78.85 and USD/CHF sliding 0.23% to hit 0.8221.
Earlier in the day, Japan’s Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda said the yen’s recent gains were a reflection of concerns over sovereign debt in Europe and the U.S. more than a reflection of Japan’s economic fundamentals. He added that the government will take decisive steps on currencies if needed to stem excessive or volatile moves.
Elsewhere, the greenback dipped against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD slipping 0.14% to hit 0.9484, AUD/USD easing up 0.08% to hit 1.0743 and NZD/USD inching up 0.03% to hit 0.8558.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.32%.
On Tuesday, U.S. President Barack Obama said there had been “some progress” in talks with lawmakers on raising the USD14.3 trillion U.S. debt limit, boosting optimism that a deal would be reached before the August 2 deadline.
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