WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. dollar turned in a mixed performance against its major counterparts on Wednesday, reacting to the latest batch of economic data from major countries.
Markets were awaiting details of U.S. President Joe Biden's infrastructure plan to be announced in a speech later today in Pittsburgh.
The Washington Post reports the first part of Biden's infrastructure package could cost $2.25 trillion, with the focus on physical infrastructure, housing, clean energy and manufacturing, among other areas.
ADP said private sector employment surged up by 517,000 jobs in March after climbing by an upwardly revised 176,000 jobs in February.
Economists had expected employment to jump by 550,000 jobs compared to the addition of 117,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
A report released by MNI Indicators on Wednesday showed a much bigger than expected acceleration in the pace of growth in Chicago-area business activity in the month of March.
MNI Indicators said its Chicago business barometer soared to 66.3 in March from 59.5 in February.
Pending home sales in the U.S. plunged by much more than expected in the month of February, according to a report released by the National Association of Realtors on Wednesday.
NAR said its pending home sales index plummeted by 10.6% to 110.3 in February after tumbling by 2.4% to a revised 123.4 in January.
The dollar index, which rose to 93.44 in early Asian session, retreated subsequently and was last seen at 93.20, down 0.1% from previous close.
Against the Euro, the dollar weakened to $1.760 before regaining some lost ground, recovering to $1.1728. Flash data from Eurostat showed that Eurozone consumer prices increased at a faster pace in March.
Inflation advanced to 1.3% in March, in line with expectations, from 0.9% in February. This was the third consecutive rise in prices.
The Pound Sterling was stronger against the dollar, fetching $1.3786 a unit, 0.32% more than Tuesday's close. Data from the Office for National Statistics showed that gross domestic product grew 1.3% sequentially in the fourth quarter instead of +1% estimated initially. The economy had expanded sharply by 16.9% in the third quarter.
The dollar hit a one-year high against the Yen. After rising to 110.97 Yen, the dollar gave up some gains, but was still quite firm at 110.71, more than 0.33% from previous close.
The Aussie was little changed with the AUD-USD pair at 0.7595 a little while ago, after having risen to 0.7637 earlier.
The Swiss franc was at 0.9440, weakening from 0.9424 a dollar, while the Loonie firmed up to 1.2562 from 1.2634 a dollar. Data released by Statistics Canada showed Canada's real gross domestic product rose 0.7% in January.
The industrial product price index in Canada rose 2.6% month over month in February, accelerating from a 2% advance in January, a preliminary estimate showed.
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