Forex Pros – The U.S. dollar was sharply lower against all its major rivals on Thursday, after unexpectedly weak U.S. inflation data supported the Federal Reserve’s case for economic stimulus and as Ireland’s debt problems appeared to subside. During European morning trade, the greenback was down against the euro, with EUR/USD soaring 0.84% to hit 1.3645. Irish Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said “intensive engagement” would begin later Thursday between his country and its European Union partners to discuss the best ways to support the country’s banking system. The greenback was also down against the pound with GBP/USD climbing 0.35% to hit 1.5963. In addition, the greenback was down against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY slipping 0.05% to hit 83.14 and USD/CHF dropping 0.60% to hit 0.9856. Earlier in the day, official data showed that Switzerland’s trade surplus increased unexpectedly in October. Elsewhere the greenback was down against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD plunging 0.79% to hit 1.0163, AUD/USD jumping 1.01% to hit 0.9895 and NZD/USD surging 0.96% to hit 0.7776. The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, tumbled 0.73%. On Wednesday, official U.S. data showed that core consumer price inflation, which excludes food and energy costs, was unexpectedly flat in October for the second successive month, while consumer prices rose less-than-expected. Also, the annual underlying inflation rate hit 0.6%, the lowest level since records began in 1957.

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