IV:Dollar supported vs. euro, yen ahead of central banks
Investing.com - The dollar remained supported against the euro and the yen on Wednesday, as investors remained cautious ahead of U.S. jobs data and central bank decisions in Japan and Europe.
During European morning trade, the dollar was trading close to four-month highs against the euro, with EUR/USD easing up 0.08% to 1.2827.
The single currency remained under pressure after weak manufacturing and employment data from the euro zone on Tuesday fuelled concerns over the outlook for first quarter growth.
Earlier Wednesday, preliminary data showed that consumer inflation in the currency bloc ticked down to 1.7% in March from 1.8% in February, still slightly above forecasts for inflation of 1.6%
Investors remained cautious ahead of the outcome of the European Central Bank’s upcoming policy meeting on Thursday.
The ECB was not expected to announce any changes to monetary policy, but investors were awaiting comments from President Mario Draghi at the bank’s post-policy meeting press conference.
The dollar was higher against the yen, with USD/JPY climbing 0.21% to 93.61 amid expectations for aggressive easing measures by the Bank of Japan at the conclusion of its policy setting meeting on Thursday.
The dollar was little changed against the pound, with GBP/USD inching up 0.04% to 1.5109.
The pound remained steady after data showed that the U.K. construction sector remained in contraction territory for the fifth successive month in March.
The Markit U.K. construction purchasing managers' index ticked up to 47.2 from 46.8 in February, still below the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction and undershooting forecasts for a reading of 47.5.
The dollar was almost unchanged against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF inching down 0.05% to 0.9487.
The greenback was weaker against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD dipping 0.04% to 1.0142, AUD/USD rising 0.22% to 1.0472 and NZD/USD easing up 0.11% to 0.8426.
In Australia, official data showed that the trade deficit narrowed to AUD178 million in February from a deficit of AUD1.2 billion the previous month, compared to expectations for a deficit of AUD1 billion.
Elsewhere data showed that China's HSBC’s services PMI rose to a six-month high of 54.3 in March, while the official version of the services PMI rose to 55.6 in March from 54.5 in February.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, edged down 0.05% to 83.06.
The U.S. was to release the ADP nonfarm payrolls report later Wednesday, while the Institute of Supply Management was release a report on U.S. service sector activity.
