Forexpros - The U.S. dollar slipped lower against the other major currencies on Thursday, as investors awaited the European Central Bank‘s rate decision later in the session.
During European late morning trade, the dollar edged lower against the euro, with EUR/USD inching up 0.07% to 1.3076.
The ECB was widely expected to keep rates unchanged at 0.75% later Thursday, while a post-policy meeting press conference by President Mario Draghi would be closely watched for indications on the future direction of monetary policy.
Demand for the single currency continued to be underpinned by recent signs of progress in dealing with the debt crisis in the euro zone, but concerns over the weak outlook for the bloc’s economy persisted.
Final data showed that the euro zone economy contracted by 0.1% in the third quarter, unchanged from the preliminary estimate and confirming a recession after a 0.2% contraction in the previous quarter.
The greenback was steady close to a one-month low against the pound before the Bank of England’s rate decision later in the day, with GBP/USD easing up 0.12% to 1.6115.
Sterling was little changed after official data showed that the U.K. trade deficit widened to GBP9.5 billion in October from GBP8.4 billion the previous month as export demand fell.
The greenback was steady against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY dipping 0.07% to 82.40 and USD/CHF inching up 0.05% to 0.9269.
The greenback slid lower against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD losing 0.10% to trade at 0.9906, AUD/USD rising 0.31% to 1.0487 and NZD/USD climbing 0.22% to 0.8305.
The Australian dollar pushed higher after official data showed that the Australian economy added 13,900 jobs in November, far more than the expected 200 increase, bringing the unemployment rate down to 5.2% from 5.4% in October.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, dipped 0.03% to 79.79.
Later in the trading day, the U.S. was to publish the weekly government report on initial jobless claims.
