Investing.com - The dollar slipped lower against the other major currencies on Thursday, as investors locked in profits from the greenback’s recent rally to two-month highs and awaited the release of U.S. jobless claims and durable goods orders data later in the day.
USD/JPY edged down 0.17% to 109.99.
The greenback continued to be underpinned by expectations that the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates in the near term after last week’s April Fed meeting minutes flagged a possible rate hike if the economy continues to improve.
However, investors remained cautious as G7 leaders held a summit meeting in Japan, amid persistent concerns over the strength of the global economy.
The G7 leaders were expected to reiterate their previous commitment to stability in the foreign exchange market.
EUR/USD rose 0.22% to 1.1178, pulling away from Tuesday’s two-month lows of 1.1132.
The euro gained ground after Greece and its creditors reached a deal on Wednesday to unlock €10 billion in bailout funds and trigger work on debt relief, easing concerns over another euro zone debt crisis.
The dollar was steady against the pound and the Swiss franc, with GBP/USD at 1.4701 and with USD/CHF at 0.9911.
The U.K. Office of National Statistics said on Thursday that gross domestic product growth slowed to 0.4% in the three months to March, in line with the preliminary estimate, from 0.6% in the previous quarter.
The annual rate of growth was revised down to 2.0% from 2.1% initially.
The Australian dollar edged higher, with AUD/USD up 0.11% at 0.7205, while NZD/USD slipped 0.27% to 0.6722.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics said earlier Wednesday that private capital expenditure declined by 5.2% in the first quarter, compared to expectations for a 3.0% drop.
Elsewhere, USD/CAD fell 0.31% to trade at 1.2980, the lowest since May 18.
The commodity currencies found support as oil prices continued to rise after the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday that crude oil inventories fell by 4.2 million barrels last week.
The data came a day after the American Petroleum Institute reported a supply drop of 5.2 million barrels.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.18% at 95.23, still close to Wednesday’s two-month highs of 95.66.