By SAUMYA VAISHAMPAYAN And MICHAEL KITCHEN
NEW YORK—The U.S. dollar edged lower against some rivals as the British pound and Australian dollar posted data-fueled gains.
Currency action came amid a flurry of geopolitical developments, with President Barack Obama defending his stance on Syria in a news conference with Sweden's prime minister. Earlier, leaders from the U.S. opposition Republican Party said they would back Obama's push for military action against the Syrian regime, making a strike more likely.
The U.S. trade deficit in July rose 13.3% to $39.1 billion, compared with economist expectations of $39 billion. The most recent data came off nearly four-year lows reached in June, when the trade deficit shrank to $34.5 billion.
In recent trade, the British pound rose to $1.5615 compared with $1.5560 late Tuesday, with a Bank of England policy decision slated for Thursday. The Markit/CIPS U.K. services purchasing managers' index rose to 60.5 in August from 60.2 in July, showing the fastest rate of expansion since December 2006.
"The data confirmed that the U.K. economy is now in the midst of a full-on mini boom, and although unemployment remains high, growth is likely to improve markedly in the second half of this year," wrote Boris Schlossberg, managing director of foreign-exchange strategy at BK Asset Management.
That strength helped push the euro to its lowest level against the pound since mid-May, according to FactSet data.
Meanwhile, the Aussie dollar advanced to $0.9180 versus $0.9062 late Tuesday. Australian gross domestic product data on Wednesday showed the economy expanded by 0.6% in the April-June quarter, in line with expectations.
The country's central bank on Tuesday left the policy interest rate unchanged but issued a statement seen as slightly less dovish than previous statements.
The ICE dollar index, tracking the greenback against six rivals, fell to 82.26 from 82.344 late Tuesday.
The WSJ Dollar Index, which uses a wider comparison base, declined to 74.35 from late Tuesday's 74.53.
The Federal Reserve's monthly Beige Book data, a region-by-region report on the state of the U.S. economy, is scheduled for release later Wednesday.
The U.S. jobs report, detailing the change in U.S. nonfarm payrolls and unemployment rate for August, is expected Friday. A net gain of 170,000 jobs is expected.
The employment numbers are likely to dominate the week's data, given the implications for the timing of the Federal Reserve's plan to begin slowing the pace of its monetary stimulus.
The yen was little changed ahead of a Bank of Japan decision Thursday that could include some additional easing moves to offset plans to increase the national sales tax. The dollar recently fetched ¥99.54 compared with ¥99.57 late Tuesday.
The euro bought $1.3196 compared with $1.3171 late Tuesday. The European Central Bank due to hand down a policy decision Thursday.
The U.S. dollar traded at 1.0490 Canadian dollars, down from C$1.0534 late Tuesday. The Bank of Canada's policy announcement is slated for late Wednesday, with most economists tipping the central bank to keep its benchmark rate at 1%.
Among the emerging-market currencies, the Indian rupee moved higher in recent trade, sending the dollar down to 66.47 rupees from 68.615 rupees late Tuesday.
The Reserve Bank of India's new governor, former International Monetary Fund chief economist Raghuram Rajan, began as head of the bank on Wednesday.
