(RTTNews) - The dollar remained mixed Wednesday morning in New York, drifting lower against the euro while firming up versus the sterling and yen. With stocks stabilizing and risk appetite returning to the markets, the buck has moved away from its recent 6-month highs versus the higher-yielding euro. Still, measured against a basket of majors, the dollar remains relatively strong, supported by its status as the world's reserve currency, despite growing concerns about the long-term impact of massive deficit spending. Yesterday's encouraging housing stats and last week's solid manufacturing data has fueled speculation that a sustainable economic recovery is underway. Looking at today's economic calendar, traders will focus on the non-farm private employment report for January, to be released by Automatic Data Processing (ADP) at 8.15 a.m. ET. The report, which is released two days ahead of the much-awaited jobs report from the Labor Department on Friday, is expected to show that private sector laid off 30,000 workers during the month. Later, the non-manufacturing ISM index for January will be released at 10.00 a.m. ET. Economists expect the non-manufacturing index to show a reading of 55.5 for the month following a reading of 54.9 in December. The customary oil inventory report for the week ended January 29 will be issued at 10.30 a.m. ET by the Energy Information Administration. The dollar eased to 1.3990 versus the euro this morning, pulling back from Sunday's 6-month high near 1.3850. For the dollar, its been a steady trickle lower over the past few days, with traders remaining unsure about debt problems facing the euro area member nations. The European Commission on Wednesday gave the thumbs-up to a Greek plan to cut its budget deficit below three percent of GDP by the end of 2012. Eurozone retail sales stagnated at the end of 2009 as consumers tightened spending despite Christmas season. The volume of retail trade remained flat in December from November, the latest report from the Eurostat showed Wednesday, defying expectations for an increase of 0.4%. The European Central Bank is widely expected to hold the key interest rate at a record low of 1% for a ninth consecutive month on Thursday. The dollar gained on the sterling this morning, rising to 1.5980 from yesterday's low near 1.6050. With the advance, the dollar moved back toward Sunday's monthly high of 1.5849. The CIPS/Markit Purchasing Managers' Index for the British service sector fell to 54.5 in January from 56.8 in December, a report released by Markit Economics showed Wednesday. Meanwhile, the dollar stayed above Y90 versus the yen, extending its run of choppy trading. Markit Economics reported on Tuesday that the Japan Nomura services purchasing managers' index stood at a seasonally adjusted 43.4 in January, up from 42.7 in the previous month. The dollar eased below C$1.0590 against its Canadian counterpart.

Source