Forexpros – The U.S. dollar was higher against its major counterparts on Wednesday, as markets were jittery ahead of a German government debt auction later in the day, supporting demand for the safe haven greenback.
During European late morning trade, the dollar was fractionally higher against the euro, with EUR/USD easing 0.01% to hit 1.3049, hovering close to a one-year low.
The single currency came under pressure as Germany was preparing to sell EUR5 billion of 10-year government bonds later in the day.
Earlier in the day, a report showed that service sector activity in the euro zone contracted for the fourth consecutive month in December, albeit at a slower pace than initially estimated.
The greenback was also higher against the pound, with GBP/USD declining 0.05% to hit 1.5642.
Earlier Wednesday, a report by Market research group showed that the U.K. construction purchasing managers’ index rose unexpectedly in December, advancing to 53.2 from a reading at 52.3 the previous month.
Analysts had expected the construction PMI to tick down to 52 in December.
In a separate report, the Bank of England said that net lending to individuals rose in line with expectations in November.
Elsewhere, the greenback was lower against the yen and but higher against the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY retreating 0.12% to hit 76.63 and USD/CHF adding 0.19% to hit 0.9338.
The greenback was higher against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD rising 0.20% to hit 1.0128, AUD/USD sliding 0.20% to hit 1.0355 and NZD/USD falling 0.03% to hit 0.7892.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was unchanged at the day, trading at 79.96.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release data on factory orders.
