The U.S. dollar declined against most major currencies on Wednesday amid economic data from the country as well as market speculation for who will be the next head of the U.S. Federal Reserve.
On the economic front, U.S. new orders for manufactured durable goods in September increased 5.1 billion dollars or 2.2 percent to 238.7 billion dollars, well above market consensus of a 1.0-percent gain, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.
In a separate report, the department announced that U.S. sales of new single-family houses in September 2017 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 667,000, beating market estimates.
This is 18.9 percent above the revised August rate of 561,000 and is 17.0 percent above the September 2016 estimate of 570,000.
Investors continued to keep a close eye on the candidates for the position of Fed Chair when current Fed Chair Janet Yellen's term expires in February next year.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that he would make his choice on the position "very shortly" and was weighing five people: Janet Yellen, Fed Governor Jerome Powell, Stanford University economist John Taylor, the former Fed governor Kevin Warsh, and White House's National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was down 0.08 percent at 93.693 in late trading.
In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.1810 U.S. dollars from 1.1759 U.S. dollars, and the British pound climbed to 1.3255 U.S. dollars from 1.3121 U.S. dollars. The Australian dollar decreased to 0.7698 U.S. dollar from 0.7775 U.S. dollar.
The U.S. dollar bought 113.72 Japanese yen, lower than 113.86 yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar dropped to 0.9888 Swiss franc from 0.9907 Swiss franc, and it edged up to 1.2805 Canadian dollars from 1.2685 Canadian dollars.
On the economic front, U.S. new orders for manufactured durable goods in September increased 5.1 billion dollars or 2.2 percent to 238.7 billion dollars, well above market consensus of a 1.0-percent gain, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.
In a separate report, the department announced that U.S. sales of new single-family houses in September 2017 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 667,000, beating market estimates.
This is 18.9 percent above the revised August rate of 561,000 and is 17.0 percent above the September 2016 estimate of 570,000.
Investors continued to keep a close eye on the candidates for the position of Fed Chair when current Fed Chair Janet Yellen's term expires in February next year.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that he would make his choice on the position "very shortly" and was weighing five people: Janet Yellen, Fed Governor Jerome Powell, Stanford University economist John Taylor, the former Fed governor Kevin Warsh, and White House's National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was down 0.08 percent at 93.693 in late trading.
In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.1810 U.S. dollars from 1.1759 U.S. dollars, and the British pound climbed to 1.3255 U.S. dollars from 1.3121 U.S. dollars. The Australian dollar decreased to 0.7698 U.S. dollar from 0.7775 U.S. dollar.
The U.S. dollar bought 113.72 Japanese yen, lower than 113.86 yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar dropped to 0.9888 Swiss franc from 0.9907 Swiss franc, and it edged up to 1.2805 Canadian dollars from 1.2685 Canadian dollars.
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