Investing.com - The dollar hit session highs against the euro, the yen and the pound on Wednesday after data showed that the U.S. private sector added more jobs than expected in February, while investors continued to eye central bank meetings in Europe and Japan on Thursday. During European afternoon trade, the dollar hit session highs against the euro, with EUR/USD down 0.20% to 1.3025. ADP non-farm payrolls rose by a seasonally adjusted 198,000 in February, above expectations for an increase of 170,000. The previous month’s figure was revised up to a gain of 215,000 from a previously reported increase of 192,000. Sentiment on the single currency remained fragile as concerns over the economic outlook for the euro zone sparked worries that the European Central Bank could flag future rate cuts after its policy meeting on Thursday. Data on Wednesday confirmed that the euro zone economy contracted by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, in line with expectations and economists’ forecasts. Elsewhere, the dollar rose to session highs against the pound, with GBP/USD falling 0.40% to 1.5066. Sterling remained under pressure ahead of the outcome of the Bank of England’s policy meeting on Thursday amid speculation over whether the bank will resume its asset purchase program. The dollar advanced to session highs against the yen, with USD/JPY up 0.31% to 93.58. The Bank of Japan was not widely expected to announce any changes to monetary policy on Thursday, but a change of leadership later this month was expected to result in a move towards more aggressive easing measures, aimed at combating deflation. The greenback was higher against the Swiss franc with USD/CHF climbing 0.40% to 0.9444. The greenback was broadly lower against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD up 0.11% to 1.0282, AUD/USD rising 0.27% to 1.0285 and NZD/USD up 0.31% to 0.8335. The Australian dollar hit session highs earlier after official data showed that the country’s economy expanded 0.6% in the fourth quarter, in line with expectations, while third quarter growth was revised up to 0.7% from 0.5%. The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, rose 0.19% to 82.27. The U.S. was to publish official data on factory orders later in the trading day.

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