IV:Dollar broadly higher vs. rivals ahead of U.S. data
Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was broadly higher against the other major currencies on Friday, ahead of the release of highly anticipated U.S. employment data later in the day, amid growing expectations for a near-term end to the Federal Reserve's stimulus program.
During European morning trade, the dollar was higher against the euro, with EUR/USD sliding 0.31% to 1.2873.
The single currency remained under pressure after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi on Thursday said the bank expects to maintain interest rates at current or lower levels for an “extended” period of time.
Speaking at the bank’s post policy meeting press conference, Draghi said the decision to give forward guidance on interest rates was taken unanimously by policymakers and was “a very significant step forward” for the ECB.
Draghi said risks to growth in the euro zone remain “on the downside” and added that monetary policy will remain accommodative for as long as is necessary.
The comments came after the ECB left interest rates on hold at record lows of 0.5%.
The greenback was also lower against the pound, with GBP/USD declining 0.60% to 1.4981.
Elsewhere, the greenback was steady against the yen, with USD/JPY easing 0.06% to trade at 99.97, and higher against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF adding 0.25% to 0.9591.
Earlier in the day, official data showed that consumer price inflation rose 0.1% in June, beating expectations for a 0.1% fall, after a 0.1% gain the previous month.
The greenback was mixed to higher against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD edging up 0.27% to 1.0543, AUD/USD adding 0.20% to 0.9162 and NZD/USD dipping 0.04% to 0.7829.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.39% to 84.28.
Investors were awaiting Friday’s closely watched U.S. nonfarm payrolls report for further clues on when the Fed may decide to unwind its USD85 billion-a-month stimulus program.
Data on Wednesday showed that the U.S. private sector added 188,000 jobs in June, more than expectations for an increase of 160,000.
