Forexpros – The U.S. dollar was steady against its major counterparts on Thursday, while the euro remained supported ahead of a critical policy-setting meeting by the European Central Bank.
During European morning trade, the greenback was almost unchanged against the euro, with EUR/USD inching up 0.06% to hit 1.3357.
Official data showed that German factory orders fell unexpectedly in August, down for the second straight month, adding to concerns that the financial crisis in the euro zone was weighing on economic growth.
The greenback was lower against the pound, with GBP/USD gaining 0.15% to hit 1.5487.
Later in the day, the Bank of England was to hold its policy-setting meeting amid widespread expectations that the bank would launch a fresh round of monetary stimulus measures to bolster growth in the fragile U.K. economy.
Elsewhere, the greenback was down against the yen but fractionally higher against the Swiss franc with USD/JPY shedding 0.27% to hit 76.58 and USD/CHF easing up 0.02% to hit 0.9234.
Official data showed that Swiss consumer price inflation rose more-than-expected in September, advancing 0.3% after a 0.3% drop the previous month.
Analysts had expected a flat reading for September.
Meanwhile, the greenback ranged between small gains and losses against its Canadian counterpart and was lower against its Australian and New Zealand cousins, with USD/CAD inching up 0.10% to hit 1.0416%, AUD/USD rising 0.74% to hit 0.9727 and NZD/USD climbing 0.58% to hit 0.7707.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.11% to hit 79.34.
Later in the day, the U.S. Department of Labor was to release weekly data on unemployment claims.
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