Forex Pros – The U.S. dollar was up against most of the other major currencies on Wednesday, as fears over global economic growth led to increased demand for the safety of the greenback. During European afternoon trade, the greenback was up against the euro, with EUR/USD tumbling 2.09% to hit 1.2899. Earlier in the day, data showed that the U.S. trade deficit widened more-than-expected in June. The greenback was up against the pound, with GBP/USD plummeting 1.19% to hit 1.5662. Earlier Wednesday, the Bank of England said in its quarterly inflation report that economic growth will peak at 3% next year, below the 3.6% the bank predicted in its last report. The greenback was also up against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF advancing 0.81% to hit 1.0571. Meanwhile, the greenback was also up against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD climbing 1.39% to hit 1.0453, AUD/USD dropping 1.48% to hit 0.9000 and NZD/USD plummeting 1.25% to hit 0.7152. But the greenback was down against the yen, with USD/JPY shedding 0.20% to hit 85.26, after clawing back up from a 14-year low of 84.73. Earlier in the day, Japan's finance minister, Yoshihiko Noda said that he was watching the yen's move's very closely but declined to comment on whether his government would intervene to curb the yen's sharp gains. The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 1.70%. Later in the day, the U.S. was to release data on its federal budget balance.

Source