Forexpros – The U.S. dollar was mixed to modestly lower against its major counterparts on Wednesday, as investors remained cautious after the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting and ahead of Italian and German bond auctions.
During European morning trade, the dollar was fractionally lower against the euro, with EUR/USD edging up 0.01% to hit 1.3039.
Market sentiment was hit after the Fed noted modest improvement in the U.S. economy but added that market turbulence in the face of Europe’s debt woes posed a big risk.
The single currency also came under pressure German Chancellor Angela Merkel reiterated her opposition to increasing the EUR500 billion lending limit for the permanent euro zone bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism.
Meanwhile, Italian borrowing costs rose back above 7% ahead of an Italian government debt auction later in the day. Italy’s Treasury was to auction as much as EUR3 billion of debt maturing in 2016, while Germany planned to sell EUR5 billion of two-year notes.
The greenback also slipped against the pound, with GBP/USD gaining 0.21% to hit 1.5512.
In the U.K., official data showed that the number of people claiming unemployment benefits rose less-than-expected in December, advancing by 3,000 after a rise of 2,500 the previous month.
Analysts had expected the number of people claiming unemployment benefits to rise by 16,100 in November.
The report also showed that the U.K. unemployment rate remained unchanged at 8.3%, despite expectations for a rise to 8.4%.
Elsewhere, the greenback was lower against the yen and steady against the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY declining 0.02% to hit 77.97, and USD/CHF easing up 0.01% to hit 0.9456.
Earlier Tuesday, official data showed that Swiss producer price inflation fell more-than-expected in November, declining 0.8% after a 0.2% fall the previous month.
Analysts had expected Swiss PPI to ease by 0.2% in November.
Elsewhere, the greenback was up against its Canadian and New Zealand counterparts but fractionally lower against its Australian cousin, with USD/CAD adding 0.13% to hit 1.0351, NZD/USD falling 0.22% to hit 0.7550 and AUD/USD edging up 0.01% to hit 1.0016.
In Australia, a report showed that the Westpac Banking Corporation index of consumer sentiment fell to its lowest level since August in November, tumbling 8.3% after a 6.3% increase the previous month.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, edged 0.05% lower but remained close to a two-month high at 80.93.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to produce official data on import prices and crude oil stockpiles.
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