Forex Pros – The U.S. dollar was down against its major counterparts on Tuesday, amid hopes that Ireland's emergency budget would pass through parliament and clear the way for an EUR85 bailout package.
During European afternoon trade, the greenback was down against the euro, with EUR/USD climbing 0.52% to hit 1.3377.
Earlier in the day, Irish media outlets reported that that the Irish budget was likely to pass by a slim majority.
The greenback was also down against the pound with GBP/USD rising 0.41% to hit 1.5781. Earlier in the day, official data showed that manufacturing production in the U.K. rose more-than-expected in October.
Elsewhere, the greenback was down against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY slipping 0.04% to hit 82.61 and USD/CHF shedding 0.39% to hit 0.9776.
Earlier in the day, Japanese Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda said that the yen’s recent gains were “one sided” and added that he would be “closely watching” developments in the currency market.
Also Tuesday, official data showed that the unemployment rate in Switzerland remained unchanged at 3.6% in November, in line with expectations.
Meanwhile, the greenback was down against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD shedding 0.40% to hit 1.0017, AUD/USD climbing 0.56% to hit 0.9956 and NZD/USD gaining 0.51% to hit 0.7657.
Earlier in the day, the Reserve Bank of Australia left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 4.75%, in line with expectations.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.41%.
Later Tuesday, European finance ministers were to meet to formally approve the rescue package for Ireland.
