Forexpros - The U.S. dollar was broadly lower against its global counterparts on Thursday, after the European Central Bank indicated that it could still buy bonds to support Spain, while robust Australian employment data also boosted risk appetite.
During European morning trade, the dollar was lower against the euro, with EUR/USD rising 0.16% to hit 1.3129.
Sentiment on the single currency improved after ECB Executive Board member Benoit Coeure said Wednesday that the central bank still had its bond-buying program available as an option to ease pressure on the Spanish bond market.
He added that the current level of market pressure on Spain was not justified given the reforms being undertaken by its government.
But investors remained wary of pushing the euro too high as Italy prepared to sell EUR5 billion of three-year government bonds later in the day, amid concern over the risk of sovereign debt contagion from Spain.
The greenback was also lower against the pound, with GBP/USD adding 0.13% to hit 1.5926.
The greenback was higher against the yen, but slipped lower against the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY climbing 0.23% to hit 81.03 and USD/CHF losing 0.12% to hit 0.9162.
Earlier in the day, the governor of the Bank of Japan said the bank will pursue “powerful easing” to help overcome deflation and put the economy on a sustainable growth path.
Elsewhere, the greenback was weaker against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD shedding 0.28% to hit 1.0007, AUD/USD jumping 0.86% to hit 1.0386 and NZD/USD gaining 0.43% to hit 0.8208.
In Australia, official data showed that the economy added 44,000 jobs in March, far better than forecasts for an increase of 6,000, while the unemployment rate ticked down to 5.2%, from 5.3% in February.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was lower by 0.09%, at 79.88.
Later Thursday, the U.S. was to release official data on initial jobless claims, as well as reports on producer price inflation and the trade balance.
