Investing.com - The dollar extended losses against a basket of the other major currencies on Wednesday following the release of weak U.S. data on durable goods orders.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.24% at 93.66 by 09:11 AM ET (14:11 GMT).
The Commerce Department said orders for durable goods fell 1.2% last month, while orders for core capital goods fell by 0.5%, the biggest drop since September 2016.
At the same time, the Labor Department reported that initial jobless claims fell last week after two straight weeks of increases as steady growth in the jobs market continued after disruptions in the wake of recent hurricanes.
The dollar remained under pressure as low U.S. government bond yields continued to weigh. Investors are concerned that low longer-term bond yields may be signaling a weakening outlook for growth and inflation.
10-year U.S. Treasury yields have fallen this year from the end of 2016, even as the Federal Reserve has hiked interest rates three times since December.
The dollar extended losses against the yen, with USD/JPY down 0.49% to 111.89, the weakest since October 16.
Against the euro, the dollar was also lower, with EUR/USD rising 0.17% to 1.1757, pulling away from the one-week low of 1.1712 hit overnight.
The euro was lower against the yen, with EUR/JPY down 0.36% to 131.54 after having gone as low as 131.16 on Monday to its weakest since mid-September.
The euro remained under pressure amid ongoing uncertainty over German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s efforts to form a government.
Investors fear that political deadlock in the euro area’s largest economy will hamper prospects for overhauling the European Union and the euro.
Sterling pushed higher against the dollar, with GBP/USD rising 0.15% to 1.3262.
British Finance Minister Philip Hammond cut government growth forecasts on Wednesday and said he expects to borrow sharply more going into the next decade as he delivered the annual budget statement amid preparations for Brexit.
Trade volumes remained relatively thin ahead of the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday, which is also a national holiday in Japan.
Investors were looking ahead to the minutes of the Federal Reserve's November meeting later in the day for any fresh indication that a December rate hike is on the cards.