Investing.com - The dollar was broadly lower against a basket of other major currencies on Wednesday, as demand for the greenback weakened ahead of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting.
Market participants were eyeing the Fed's upcoming meeting minutes for indications on the central bank's next policy moves after Friday's downbeat jobs data fuelled uncertainty over the timing of a rate hike.
The Labor Department reported Friday that the U.S. economy added 126,000 new jobs in March, less than half of February’s gain and the smallest increase since December 2013.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.66% to 97.60.
EUR/USD climbed 0.50% to 1.0869, even as data showed that retail sales in the euro zone fell 0.2% in February, in line with market expectations.
On a year-over-year basis, retail sales rose 3.0% also in line with forecasts.
The report said gasoline sales fell for the first time since September, indicating that the boost to consumer spending from lower oil prices may be waning.
A separate report showed that German factory orders fell 0.9% in February, disappointing expectations for an increase of 1.5%. January's figure was revised to a 2.6% drop from a previously estimated 3.9% slide.
The pound was also higher, with GBP/USD advancing 0.83% to 1.4933.
Elsewhere, the dollar was lower against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY sliding 0.42% to 119.81 and with USD/CHF retreating 0.49% to 0.9613.
The yen received a boost after the Bank of Japan left monetary policy unchanged earlier Wednesday despite a slowdown in inflation.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were sharply higher, with AUD/USD rallying 1.05% to 0.7714 and NZD/USD jumping 1.30% to 0.7592.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD dropped 0.50% to trade at 1.2444.