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Dollar little changed against rivals with U.S. data on tap

Published 07/02/2015, 06:21 AM
Updated 07/02/2015, 06:21 AM
© Reuters.  Dollar holds steady vs. counterparts ahead of U.S. economic reports

Investing.com - The dollar was little changed against a basket of other major currencies on Thursday, as concerns over Greece's debt woes persisted and as investors eyed a string of U.S. economic reports to be released later in the day.

EUR/USD edged up 0.22% to 1.1077.

The euro's gains were capped however, as Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Wednesday urged Greeks to reject an international bailout deal in a referendum due to be held on July 5, souring hopes of any breakthrough.

Less than 24 hours before, Tsipras had written a conciliatory letter to creditors asking for a new bailout that would accept many of their terms.

On Wednesday Greece became the first developed country to default on the International Monetary Fund after its second bailout program expired late Tuesday. The IMF confirmed that the Greek government failed to make a scheduled €1.6 billion loan repayment.

Earlier Thursday, data showed that the number of unemployed people in Spain dropped by 94,700 last month, compared to expectations for a decline of 124,000. In May, the number of unemployed people fell by 118,000.

The pound was steady, with GBP/USD at two-and-a-half week lows of 1.5617.

Markets shrugged off a report on Thursday by research group Markit showing that the U.K. construction purchasing managers' index rose to a four-month high of 58.1 this month from 55.9, beating expectations for a reading of 56.5.

Elsewhere, the dollar was higher against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY up 0.26% to 123.48 and with USD/CHF adding 0.11% to 0.9495.

The Australian and New Zealand dollars were weaker, with AUD/USD down 0.52% at 0.7604 and with NZD/USD retreating 0.76% to fresh five-year lows of 0.6684.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics earlier reported that the country's trade deficit narrowed to A$2.75 billion in May from A$4.14 billion in April, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated deficit of A$3.89 billion.

Analysts had expected the trade deficit to narrow to A$2.20 billion in May.

Meanwhile, USD/CAD edged up 0.16% to trade at 1.2609.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 96.41, not far from Monday's two-and-a-half week highs of 96.69.

Later in the day, the U.S. was to release the closely watched nonfarm payrolls report, as well as data on wage growth one day early, ahead of the Independence Day holiday. U.S. data on initial jobless claims and factory orders were also due for release.

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