Investing.com - The dollar was broadly lower against the other major currencies on Wednesday, as market sentiment recovered from the recent risk-off trend caused by geopolitical tensions in Ukraine and the Middle East, although investors continued to monitor developments in both regions.
EUR/USD inched up 0.02% to 1.3467.
On Tuesday, European Union ministers announced an agreement to widen the list of Russian individuals and entities targeted by asset freezes and visa bans. The U.S. had hoped for stricter penalties to push Moscow into cooperating with an international investigation into the downed Malaysian jet.
Investors also continued to focus on events in the Middle East after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry pressed Hamas for a truce in fighting between Israel and militants in the Gaza Strip.
The single currency has come under pressure since the European Central Bank cut rates to record lows on June 5, in a bid to stave off the threat of deflation in the euro area.
Recent comments by ECB President Mario Draghi were seen as the latest sign that the bank is open to further monetary easing measures to help shore up the faltering recovery in the region.
The pound edged lower against the dollar, with GBP/USD down 0.12% to 1.7046 after the minutes of the Bank of England’s June meeting showed that policymakers voted unanimously to keep monetary policy unchanged.
The BoE minutes showed that the decision on whether to raise interest rates has become more balanced for some policymakers in recent months than earlier in the year.
However, the minutes also said weakness in wage growth is becoming more “striking”, particularly given that the annual rate of inflation rose to 1.9% in June. Weak wage growth in the face of strong employment growth made it difficult to gauge the degree of slack in the labor market, the minutes said.
Separately, the British Banker's Association reported that the number of new mortgages approved increased to 43,300 last month from May’s revised total of 41,900, just below forecasts of 43,400.
The dollar was lower against the yen, with USD/JPY slipping 0.12% to 101.34 and steady against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF down 0.02% to 0.9024.
The dollar was lower against its Australian, New Zealand and Canadian counterparts, with AUD/USD climbing 0.56% to 0.9447 and NZD/USD adding 0.23% to 0.8687, while USD/CAD fell 0.13% to 1.0723.
The Aussie found support after official data earlier showed that consumer price inflation in Australia rose 0.5% in the second quarter, after an increase of 0.6% in the three months to April. Analysts had expected CPI to rise 0.6% in the last quarter.
On a yearly basis, Australia CPI rose to 3.0% in the last quarter, from 2.9%, compared to expectations for an increase to 3.1%.
The US Dollar Index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.02% at 80.84.