Investing.com - The dollar held onto modest gains against the other major currencies on Thursday, recovering from the previous session's losses as investors turned their attention to the upcoming Jackson Hole summit.
Market participants were looking ahead to this week's annual meeting of top central bankers and economists in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where the heads of the U.S. and European central banks will be making keynote speeches.
The greenback had weakened after the U.S. Commerce Department reported on Wednesday that new home sales unexpectedly tumbled in July.
Sentiment on the dollar was already vulnerable after U.S. President Donald Trump said at a rally in Arizona on Tuesday that he would be willing to shut down the government in order to get the funding needed for his proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Trump also warned that he might terminate the NAFTA trade treaty with Canada and Mexico after a first round talks aimed at revamping the trade pact ended with few signs of progress.
EUR/USD edged down 0.17% to 1.1789, as investors were looking ahead to a speech by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi in Jackson Hole on Friday.
Draghi was not widely expected to deliver any new policy message in his speech, despite speculation over how soon the central bank plans to start scaling back its stimulus program.
The yen was lower, with USD/JPY up 0.29% at 109.35, while USD/CHF held steady at 0.9653.
Elsewhere, GBP/USD added 0.12 % to trade at 1.2813, off a two-month low of 1.2774 hit overnight, after data showed that U.K. economic growth was unrevised in the second quarter.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were weaker, with AUD/USD down 0.22% at 0.7887 and with NZD/USD shedding 0.29% to 0.7205.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD eased 0.08 % to 1.2541.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.12% at 93.25 by 05:20 a.m. ET (09:20 GMT).