Investing.com - The dollar fell against a basket of the other major currencies on Thursday, held back from recent gains by a rising euro.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.40% to 90.29 by 11:36 AM ET (16:36 AM GMT), from an overnight high of 90.77.
EUR/USD increased 0.45% to trade at 1.2241. The euro pulled back from a three year high of 1.2323 on Wednesday after comments by European Bank officials reflected unease over the currency’s recent strong gains.
The euro has strengthened broadly since last week's minutes of the ECB’s December meeting boosted expectations that policymakers are preparing to winding down their bond buying stimulus program.
The dollar has been pressured lower by the view that the global economic recovery will outpace U.S. growth and prompt other major central banks, including the ECB to begin unwinding loose monetary policy at a faster pace.
The dollar was down against the yen, with USD/JPY slumping 0.43% to 110.3 after ending the previous session with gains of 0.81% when it bounced from a four month trough of 110.18.
Elsewhere, sterling gained 0.45%, with GBP/USD at 1.3892. The Australian and New Zealand dollars were also up against the greenback, with AUD/USD up 0.36% to 0.7995 and NZD/USD increasing 0.59% to 0.7311.