IV:Dollar lower vs. yen, pound firmer after U.K. jobs data
Investing.com - The U.S. dollar fell to one-week lows against the firmer yen on Wednesday after easing steps by the Bank of Japan fell short of some market expectations, while market sentiment continued to remain supported as concerns over the U.S. debt ceiling and the euro zone crisis eased.
During European morning trade, the dollar was lower against the yen, with USD/JPY dropping 0.46% to 89.29.
The BoJ said Tuesday that was adopting a 2% inflation target and agreed to an “open-ended” commitment to asset purchases beginning next year, following political pressure from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe government to step up efforts to combat deflation.
The greenback was almost unchanged against the euro, with EUR/USD dipping 0.05% to 1.3305.
The euro remained supported after data on Tuesday showed that the ZEW index of German economic sentiment improved to its highest level since May 2012 this month as concerns over the crisis in the euro zone eased.
The greenback pulled away from nine-week lows against the pound, with GBP/USD up 0.24% to 1.5875 following stronger-than-forecast U.K. employment data.
The number of people claiming unemployment benefits in the U.K. fell by 12,100 in December, compared to expectations for an increase of 100, while the unemployment rate ticked down to 7.7% from 7.8% in November.
The greenback was little changed against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF inching up 0.01% to 0.9293.
The greenback was mixed against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD sliding 0.13% to 0.9906, AUD/USD dipping 0.02% to 1.0563 and NZD/USD rising 0.34% to 0.8436.
The Australian dollar weakened after official data showed that consumer inflation in Australia rose 0.2% in in the fourth quarter, below expectations for as 0.4% increase.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, dipped 0.09% to 79.88.
Republican leaders in the House of Representatives were to hold a vote later Wednesday to grant an almost four-month extension of the U.S. debt limit, to give Congress time to pass a federal budget.
