Forex Pros – The U.S. dollar was mixed against its major counterparts on Wednesday, as risk aversion eased after Finland approved a bailout for debt-laden Portugal but concerns over Greek sovereign debt persisted.
During European afternoon trade, the greenback was up against the euro, with EUR/USD sliding 0.16% to hit 1.4077.
Earlier in the day, Finland’s parliament approved Portugal’s EUR 78 billion bailout package from the European Union and International Monetary Fund. Finland’s parliament, unlike others in the euro zone, has the right to vote on EU requests for bailout funds.
But the greenback was down against the pound, with GBP/USD rising 0.28% to hit 1.6224.
Earlier Wednesday, official data showed that U.K. gross domestic product grew by 0.5% in the first quarter, in line with initial estimates.
Meanwhile, the greenback was higher against the yen but lower against the Swiss franc with USD/JPY climbing 0.21% to hit 82.14 and USD/CHF shedding 0.54% to hit 0.8753.
Government data showed earlier that Japan’s exports dropped by 12.5% in April, from a year earlier, pulling the country into the first trade deficit for the month of April in 31 years.
The greenback was higher against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD gaining 0.21% to hit 0.9787, AUD/USD dropping 0.57% to hit 1.0497 and NZD/USD dipping 0.05% to hit 0.7957.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, eased up 0.09%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish official data on durable goods orders as well as a government report on crude oil stockpiles.
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