NEW YORK, July 20 (Xinhua) — The U.S. dollar appreciated in late trading on Wednesday, while the euro declined, as market participants awaited a key rate decision from the European Central Bank (ECB).
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, rose 0.37 percent to 107.0760.
In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.0179 U.S. dollars from 1.0234 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound decreased to 1.1967 dollars from 1.1998 U.S. dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar fell to 0.6886 U.S. dollar from 0.6896 dollar.
The U.S. dollar bought 138.25 Japanese yen, higher than 138.21 Japanese yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar was up to 0.9719 Swiss franc from 0.9690 Swiss franc, and it was down to 1.2878 Canadian dollars from 1.2882 Canadian dollars.
The euro rallied over the past three trading sessions on expectations that the ECB might consider a big rate hike at its meeting on Thursday to tame record-high inflation.
“If there were 50 basis points tomorrow, that would be a strong signal for the EUR-positive direction,” Ulrich Leuchtmann, head of Commerzbank FX Research, said Wednesday in a note.
“If it’s only 25 basis points, however, I fear that the disappointment will be great,” he said.
