On Wednesday the dollar shrugged off the downbeat data on non-farm private employment in the U.S. remaining higher vs peers.
Automatic Data Processing Inc. estimated private-sector employers added 190,000 jobs in August - below expectations for an increase of
201,000.
In July the economy created 177,000 jobs, whose figure was downwardly revised from a previously reported increase of 185,000.
Separately, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that non-farm business sector labor productivity rose by a seasonally adjusted 3.3% in the three months ended June 30, above forecasts for a gain of 2.8% and up from an initial estimate of 1.3%.
The report also signaled that unit labor costs decreased by a seasonally adjusted 1.4% in the second quarter, worse than expectations for a decline of 1.0% and compared to an initial estimate of a 0.5% gain.
Investors were now awaiting Friday’s U.S. jobs report for August, for more cues on the strength of the job market and the likelihood of a near-term interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve.
The U.S. dollar index was last up 0.45% to 95.81.
EUR/USD was last down 0.65% at 1.1243.
GBP/USD was last down 0.12% at 1.5285.
In the U.K., data earlier showed that the Markit construction purchasing managers' index rose to 57.3 in August from 57.1 in July. Analysts had expected the index to improve to 57.5.
The Aussie was last slightly higher, adding 0.06% to settle at $0.7020.
Earlier Wednesday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that the country's gross domestic product climbed 0.2% in the three months to June, below expectations for a 0.4% growth rate. In the first quarter, Australia's economy expanded by 0.9%.
On a yearly basis, Australia's GDP expanded by 2.0% in the second quarter, disappointing expectations for a 2.2% gain.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note traded at 2.1631%, up less than 1 basis point on the day and little changed from the level seen ahead of the report. Bond yields move in the opposite direction of prices.
