US dollar declines despite upbeat data

The US dollar fell against most major currencies despite positive housing data from the country.

In late New York trading on Wednesday, the euro rose to $1.0428 from $1.0392, and the British pound dropped to $1.2343 from $1.2361, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Australian dollar increased to $0.7304 from $0.7255.

The dollar bought 117.55 Japanese yen, lower than 117.71 yen in the previous session.

The dollar inched down to 1.0261 Swiss francs from 1.0286 Swiss francs, and it slipped to 1.3336 Canadian dollars from 1.3379 Canadian dollars.

US total existing-home sales rose 0.7 per cent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.61 million in November from a downwardly revised 5.57 million in October, beating market consensus of 5.535 million.

The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against six major peers, still went down after rising for consecutive two sessions on Wednesday.

The index was down 0.26 per cent at 103.020 in late trading.

--IANS

pgh/