Forex Pros – The U.S. dollar was mixed against its major counterparts on Wednesday, after the Greek government survived a vote of confidence on Tuesday, but investors remained wary as planned austerity measures still have to pass parliament.
During European morning trade, the greenback was up slightly against the euro, with EUR/USD edging 0.05% lower to hit 1.4404.
Greece’s parliament supported Prime Minister George Papandreou’s new cabinet on Tuesday, wining the support of 155 out of 300 parliament members.
However, markets remained cautious as Greek lawmakers still need to support next week’s vote on new austerity measures, which include harsh spending cuts and new taxes over the next five years.
The greenback was also higher against the pound, with GBP/USD dropping 0.56% to hit 1.6154.
The Bank of England published the minutes of its June 9 policy setting meeting earlier, showing that MPC members voted 7-2 to keep rates on hold at a record low of 0.5%.
Meanwhile, the greenback was modestly higher against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY easing up 0.02% to hit 80.22 and USD/CHF gaining 0.08% to hit 0.8413.
Elsewhere, the greenback was down against its Australian and New Zealand counterparts but up against the Canadian dollar, with AUD/USD rising 0.04% to hit 1.0610, NZD/USD climbing 0.44% to hit 0.8161, while USD/CAD advanced 0.12% to hit 0.9723.
Earlier in the day, official data showed that New Zealand’s current account deficit narrowed unexpectedly in the first quarter, falling to NZD0.10 billion from a deficit of NZD3.63 billion in the preceding quarter. Analysts had expected the current account deficit to widen to NZD3.9 billion.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.1% to trade at 75.10.
Later Wednesday, the Federal Reserve was to announce its federal funds rate. The announcement will be followed with a press conference by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke to discuss the bank’s rate statement.
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