Forexpros – The U.S. dollar was mixed against its major counterparts on Thursday, as markets were jittery ahead of the European Central Bank’s policy meeting and a two-day European Union summit.
During European morning trade, the dollar was up against the euro, with EUR/USD shedding 0.04% to hit 1.3406.
Market sentiment found support as the European Central Bank was expected to cut interest rates by 0.25% to 1% at its policy-setting meeting later Thursday.
But investors were wary as France and Germany were to present a plan to amend EU treaties which would allow for greater fiscal integration and stricter enforcement of budgetary discipline in the single currency bloc.
The greenback was lower against the pound, with GBP/USD advancing 0.17% to hit 1.5739.
But sterling’s gains were limited as markets were also eying the Bank of England’s rate decision later in the day.
Elsewhere, the greenback was lower against the yen but fractionally higher against the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY declining 0.38% to hit 77.37, and USD/CHF inching up 0.01% to hit 0.9235.
In Japan, government data showed that core machinery orders fell unexpectedly in October, tumbling 6.9% after an 8.2% decline the previous month.
Analysts had expected core machinery orders to rise 0.2% in October.
The greenback was also lower against its Canadian and New Zealand counterparts but higher against its Australian cousin, with USD/CAD falling 0.11% to hit 1.0086, NZD/USD advancing 0.21% to hit 0.7814 and AUD/USD shedding 0.03% to hit 1.0290.
Earlier Thursday, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 2.5%, citing “continuing difficulties related to sovereign and bank debt in a growing number of European economies resulting in high levels of volatility in financial markets.”
Meanwhile, official data showed that Australia’s unemployment rate rose unexpectedly in November, ticking up to 5.3%, while the number of people in employment fell by 6,300 after rising by 16,800 the previous month.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.07% to hit 78.42.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release official data on initial jobless claims.
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