Investing.com - The dollar remained broadly higher against the other major currencies on Wednesday, despite the release of downbeat U.S. home sales data as trading volumes remained light ahead of the New Year holiday.
Heading into the final week of the year, trading volumes are expected to remain light as many traders already closed books, reducing liquidity in the market which could result in exaggerated moves.
USD/JPY edged up 0.10% to 120.58.
Markets shrugged off a report by the U.S. National Association of Realtors showing that its pending home sales index inched down 0.9% last month, disappointing expectations for a gain of 0.5%.
Pending home sales in October rose by 0.4%, whose figure was revised from a previously reported gain of 0.2%.
The dollar had strengthened broadly after the Conference Board reported on Tuesday that its consumer confidence index rose to 96.5 in December from 92.6 in November, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 90.4.
Analysts had expected the index to rise to 93.8 this month.
Separately, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Anaysis said the goods trade deficit widened to $60.50 billion last month from $58.41 billion in October. Analysts had expected the trade deficit to widen to $60.90 billion in November.
EUR/USD eased 0.08% to 1.0914.
Earlier Wednesday, preliminary data showed that Spain’s consumer price index fell 0.3% this month, compared to expectations for a 0.1% downtick, after a 0.4% rise the previous month.
Elsewhere, the dollar was steady against the pound, with GBP/USD at 1.4827 and lower against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF down 0.30% at 0.9901.
In the U.K., the Nationwide Building Society said home prices rose 0.8% in December, exceeding expectations for a 0.5% gain and after an uptick of 0.1% the previous month.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were weaker, with AUD/USD down at 0.7288 and with NZD/USD retreating 0.48% to 0.6835.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD climbed 0.42% to trade at 1.3901, re-approaching the more than 11-year peak of 1.4000 hit on December 18.
The commodity-related loonie came under pressure as oil prices moved back lower amid ongoing concerns over a global supply glut and the lack of demand.
Crude oil futures for February delivery were down 3.20% at $36.66 in U.S. morning trade, re-approaching the 11-year low of $35.98 hit on December 22.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.20% at 98.43.