Investing.com - The dollar remained higher against a basket of other major currencies in subdued trade on Wednesday, supported by the release of positive consumer price inflation data from the U.S. and as global growth concerns continued to weigh on sentiment.
In a report, the U.S. Department of Labor said that consumer prices increased 0.1% last month, meeting estimates and following a 0.2% decline in August.
Core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy costs, rose 0.1% in September, disappointing expectations for a 0.2% gain. Core consumer prices were flat in August.
EUR/USD slid 0.46% to 1.2656, just above a one-week low of 1.2652 hit earlier in the session.
Sentiment on the euro remained vulnerable after Reuters reported on Tuesday that the European Central Bank is considering buying bonds issued by companies, or corporate debt, to help stimulate the ailing euro zone economy.
The report said the bank could activate the new stimulus plan as soon as December and start bond purchases by early next year.
GBP/USD dropped 0.46% to 1.6040 after the Bank of England's latest policy meeting showed an ongoing split on the necessity of raising interest rates.
The minutes of the BoE's October policy meeting showed that members voted unanimously to keep the asset puschase facility program on hold.
However, members Martin Weale and Ian McCafferty voted for the third consecutive time to raise interest rates to 0.75% from a record-low 0.5%.
Elsewhere, the yen and the Swiss franc remained lower, with USD/JPY up 0.21% to 107.23 and with USD/CHF gaining 0.41% to 0.9530.
The commodity linked dollars were mixed, with AUD/USD edging up 0.10% to 0.8787, NZD/USD down 0.21% to 0.7945, while USD/CAD slipped 0.16% to 1.1204.
In a widely expected move, the Bank of Canada left its overnight cash rate unchanged at 1%, adding that domestic growth remains reliant on “exceptional policy stimulus” and that “persistent headwinds continue to buffet most economies”.
The statement came after Statistics Canada reported that retail sales fell 0.3% in August, compared to expectations for a 0.2% gain, after a 0.1% dip the previous month.
Core retail sales, which exclude automobiles, slipped 0.3% in August, confounding expectations for a 0.3% rise. July's figure was revised to a 0.5% decline from a previously estimated 0.6% drop.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, rose 0.39% to 85.78, the highest since October 15.