Investing.com - The dollar edged higher against the other major currencies on Wednesday, as markets focused on an upcoming meeting between major oil producers scheduled later in the day, as well as on a string of U.S. economic reports.
Hopes for a potential production freeze were crushed following reports on Tuesday that differences between Saudi Arabia and Iran remained too wide to achieve a deal this week.
However, investors were looking to see what comes out of Wednesday’s meeting to measure the odds for a deal at the official OPEC meeting on November 30.
EUR/USD held steady at 1.1216.
The greenback remained supported as analysts considered that Hillary Clinton did better than her rival Donald Trump during Monday night’s Presidential debate.
Markets tend to see Clinton as a status quo candidate, while few are sure what a Trump presidency might mean for international trade deals or the U.S. economy.
The U.S. dollar was also boosted after the Conference Board said on Tuesday that its consumer confidence index increased to a nine-year high of 104.1 this month from 101.8 in August.
USD/JPY gained 0.29% to 100.71.
The pound edged lower, with GBP/USD down 0.24% to 1.2991, while USD/CHF was little changed at 0.9715.
The Australian dollar was steady, with AUD/USD at 0.7668, while NZD/USD declined 0.74% to 0.7248.
Elsewhere, USD/CAD rose 0.23% to trade at 1.3229, just off the previous session’s six-month high of 1.3281.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.14% at 95.47.