US dollar declines against major currencies

The US dollar index decreased against other major currencies as the country's new home sales data came out disappointing.

In late New York trading on Wednesday, the euro increased to $1.1699 from $1.1683 in the previous session, and the British pound was up to $1.3172 from $1.3138 in the previous session, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Australian dollar climbed to $0.7437 from $0.7415.

The US dollar bought 110.83 Japanese yen, lower than 111.22 Japanese yen of the previous session. The US dollar fell to 0.9924 Swiss franc from 0.9941 Swiss franc, and it decreased to 1.3049 Canadian dollars from 1.3160 Canadian dollars.

US sales of new single-family houses in June 2018 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 631,000, missing market estimates and hitting a 8-month low, the Commerce Department announced on Wednesday.

This is 5.3 per cent below the revised May rate of 666,000, but is 2.4 per cent above the June 2017 estimate of 616,000.

Meanwhile, investors also kept a close eye on the meeting between the US and the European Union in Washington, as the EU's Jean-Claude Juncker is slated to meet with US President Donald Trump on Wednesday afternoon.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, decreased 0.25 per cent at 94.377 in late trading.

--IANS

pgh/