Dollar still broadly lower vs peers, as previous session's reports continue to weigh

On Thursday the dollar was broadly lower against its peers, as the previous session's weak U.S. economic reports continued to weigh on the demand for the greenback.

The greenback weakened on Wednesday after the Institute for Supply Management said that its index of purchasing managers fell to a 14-month low of 51.5 last month from a reading of 52.9 in February.

Separately, payroll processing firm ADP reported that non-farm private employment rose by 189,000 last month, below expectations for an increase of 225,000.

The U.S. is expected to release data on the trade balance, as well as on initial jobless claims and factory orders later in the day, which were expected to support expectations for higher interest rates.

EUR/USD advanced 0.58% to 1.0824. The euro’s gains were held in check however, as a deadlock over the Greek government’s reform plans continued.

Athens will run out of cash later this month unless it can reach a compromise with its creditors on a program of economic reforms in time to unlock more bailout funds.

The pound edged lower, with GBP/USD slipping - to - after research firm Markit said the U.K. construction purchasing managers' index ticked down to 57.8 in March from February’s four-month high of 60.1 while economists had expected the index decline to 59.5.

All three areas of construction activity weakened in March, with the biggest slowdown in civil engineering growth. Markit said uncertainty related to the forthcoming general election had encouraged some clients to delay spending decisions.

The dollar was lower against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY falling 0.14% to 119.58 and with USD/CHF retreating 0.53% to 0.9619.

The Aussie dollar was lower, with AUD/USD sliding 0.41% at 0.7566. Statistics Australia earlier reported that the country's trade deficit narrowed to A$1.26 billion in February from A$1.00 billion in January, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated deficit of A$0.98 billion, while analysts had expected the trade deficit to widen to A$1.300 billion in February.

In the meantime, NZD/USD rose 0.34% to 0.7476 and USD/CAD eased 0.09% to trade at 1.2611.