Forexpros - The U.S. dollar was broadly lower against its major counterparts on Wednesday, after Germany’s constitutional court approved the country’s participation in the euro zone’s bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism, while markets eyed the Federal Reserve’s upcoming meeting. During European morning trade, the dollar was lower against the euro, with EUR/USD rising 0.24% to 1.2890. The ruling cleared the way for Germany’s president to ratify the ESM under certain conditions, allowing the European Central Bank’s bond purchasing program to proceed. The German court said that the country’s liability to the EMS must not exceed EUR190 billion without the approval of the lower house of parliament and said that both houses of parliament must be kept informed about decisions relating to the ESM. Meanwhile, markets continued to eye the outcome of the Fed’s policy meeting on Thursday, after disappointing U.S. employment data last week fueled fresh expectations for the central bank to add stimulus, sending the greenback broadly lower. Adding to pressure on the U.S. dollar, Moody’s said on Tuesday that it could downgrade the U.S’s triple-A rating if budget negotiations for 2013 do not result in policy measures which will reduce the country’s debt. The greenback was also lower against the pound, with GBP/USD adding 0.33% to 1.6121. Official data showed earlier that the U.K. claimant count fell by a seasonally adjusted 15,000 in August, defying expectations for an increase of 500 people. The previous month’s figure was revised a decline of 13,600 from a previously reported drop of 5,900. The unemployment rate in the U.K. rose unexpectedly to 8.1% from 8.0%. Analysts had expected the jobless rate to hold steady at 8.0%. Elsewhere, the greenback was higher against the yen, with USD/JPY edging up 0.12% to hit 77.85, and lower against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF slipping 0.13% to trade at 0.9377. In Japan, government data showed that core machinery orders rose far more-than-expected in July, climbing 4.6% after a 5.6% increase the previous month. Analysts had expected core machinery orders to rise 1.5% in July. A separate report showed that tertiary industry activity fell 0.8% in July, more than the expected 0.4% slide and following a 0.2% rise the previous month. The greenback was lower against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD falling 0.13% to 0.9719, AUD/USD climbing 0.62% to 1.0499 and NZD/USD advancing 0.67% to trade at 0.8228. Earlier in the day, the Westpac Banking Corporation said that consumer sentiment in Australia rose by 1.6% in September, following a 2.5% decline the previous month. The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.27%, trading at 79.81. Later in the day, the U.S. was to release official data on import prices, followed by a government report on crude oil stockpiles.

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