MW: Dollar edges lower, but holds ground against euro
Italy sees borrowing costs fall as it sells 6-month bills
By William L. Watts and V. Phani Kumar, MarketWatch
FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) — The U.S. dollar edged lower versus most major rivals but held its ground against the euro in thin, holiday trading conditions Wednesday after the shared currency failed to get a lasting boost from an auction of short-term Italian debt.
The euro EURUSD -0.04% fetched $1.3073, little changed from $1.3074 in North America late on Tuesday, while the British pound GBPUSD -0.25% bought $1.5682, up from $1.5663.
The Italian government sold 9 billion euros ($11.8 billion) of six-month bills in an auction on Wednesday.
The sale produced an average yield of 3.25%, down from more than 6.5% at a sale of six-month bills in late November. Bids exceeded demand 1.7 times versus 1.5 times at the November sale.
Although the euro barely budged versus the dollar, “the pair has remained at the upper end of its range throughout morning European trade as it held above the $1.3070 level ... Given the positive results of the Italian auction, it may try to make another run to $1.3100 to take out the stops during North American trade,” said Boris Schlossberg, director of currency research at GFT, in emailed comments.
Schlossberg noted that overall trading activity remains extremely thin, with most currency pairs maintaining narrow trading ranges.
Against the yen, the greenback USDJPY -0.32% traded at ¥77.65, down from ¥77.85.
The U.S. dollar index DXY -0.13% , a measure of the greenback’s performance against six other major currencies, traded at 79.764, down slightly from 79.792.
