Forex Pros – The U.S. dollar gave up early gains, turning lower against its major counterparts on Monday, as strong Chinese data fuelled hopes for global growth and after Beijing’s unexpected decision to hold interest rates steady.
During European late afternoon trade, the greenback was down against the euro, with EUR/USD jumping 1.06% to hit 1.3369.
Earlier Monday, the European Central Bank said it increased its bond purchases last week as investors remained concerned about governments’ ability to push down budget deficits across the single currency bloc.
The greenback was also down against the pound with GBP/USD climbing 0.25% to hit 1.5841. Earlier in the day, Bank of England Deputy Governor Charles Bean said the bank could restart its program to inject money into the economy if growth slows or the euro zone debt crisis had a big impact on Britain's economy.
Elsewhere, the greenback was lower against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY shedding 0.44% to hit 83.57 and USD/CHF tumbling 1.53% to hit 0.9661. Earlier Monday, official data showed that Swiss producer price inflation fell unexpectedly in November.
Meanwhile, the greenback was down against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD dropping 0.46% to hit 1.0045, AUD/USD surging 0.94% to hit 0.9946 and NZD/USD soaring 0.95% to hit 0.7553.
Earlier Monday, official data showed that Canada’s capacity utilization rate rose more-than-expected in the third quarter, while a separate report showed New Zealand’s food prices fell 0.6% in November after gaining 2.2% in the previous month.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, tumbled 0.79%.
China held back from raising interest rates over the weekend, following Saturday’s government data which showed that Chinese consumer prices jumped 5.1% in November, accelerating at the fastest pace in 26 months.
