Forexpros - The U.S. dollar remained broadly lower against its major counterparts on Thursday, after the European Central Bank held left the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 0.75%, while investors awaited comments by central bank chief Mario Draghi later in the day. During European afternoon trade, the dollar was lower against the euro, with EUR/USD rising 0.40% to 1.2274. The euro remained supported as expectations that the ECB may resume its bond buying program, to help lower Spanish and Italian borrowing costs, have been building since central bank President Mario Draghi pledged last week to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro. In July, the ECB cut its benchmark interest rate to a record low 0.75%, in order to ease pressure on the bloc’s economy. Investors were cautious however, amid concerns that an inadequate policy response by the ECB could send markets lower. Also Thursday, Spain successfully auctioned EUR3.13 billion of government bonds, the top end of the targeted range, but borrowing costs were higher while demand was weaker. Following the auction, the yield on Spanish 10-year bonds dropped back to an intra-day low of 6.64%, while the yield on Italian 10-year bonds rose to 5.82%. The greenback was also lower against the pound, with GBP/USD rising 0.23% to 1.5570. Earlier in the day, the Bank of England left the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 0.5% and kept the size of its quantitative easing program at GBP375 billion. The decision came as data earlier showed that the U.K. construction sector unexpectedly returned to growth in July, as the Markit/CIPS construction purchasing managers’ index recovered to 50.9 from 48.2 in June, defying expectations for a decline to 48.0. Elsewhere, the greenback was lower against the yen, with USD/JPY falling 0.30% to hit 78.19, and lower against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF shedding 0.48% to trade at 0.9780. In Switzerland, official data showed earlier that retail sales rose 3.7% in June, beating expectations for a 2.8% increase, while a separate report showed that the country’s PMI rose unexpectedly to 48.6 in July from a reading of 48.1 the previous month. The greenback was lower against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD declining 0.28% to 1.0029, AUD/USD climbing 0.59% to 1.0521 and NZD/USD advancing 0.61% to trade at 0.8125. Official data showed that Australia’s trade balance unexpectedly swung into a surplus of AUD0.01 billion in June, from a AUD0.31 billion deficit the previous month. A separate report showed that retail sales in Australia rose more-than-expected in June, advancing 1% after a 0.8% increase the previous month and beating expectations for a 0.6% rise. The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.48% to 82.83. The U.S. central bank stopped short of launching a third round of quantitative easing, on Wednesday. The Fed did indicate, however, that it will "closely monitor" the economy and "will provide additional accommodation as needed to promote a stronger economic recovery and sustained improvement in labor market conditions." Later in the day, the U.S. was to release government data on initial jobless claims and factory orders.

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