Concerns for the possibility of a hawkish decision by the Federal Reserve Bank next week were reflected in Thursday’s trading as the euro reversed course to trade lower against the dollar.
The euro was down 0.07 percent against the dollar at $1.1296, near a session low of $1.1271, after hitting a nine-day high of $1.1394 in reaction to comments from ECB President Mario Draghi who shrugged off German criticism of his ultra-loose monetary policy and vowed instead to use all the tools at his disposal for "as long as needed."
Joe Manimbo, senior market analyst at Western Union Business Solutions in Washington believes that "There's a risk that the Fed could signal a stronger chance of a June rate rise than markets currently expect."
The dollar slipped against the safe-haven yen for the first session in four as a surge in risk appetite stalled.
Wall Street Down
Meanwhile, after four straight days of up sessions, Wall Street backed off Thursday following several quarterly reports that showed uncertainty in the economy.
The benchmark S&P 500 index had rallied in recent days to within 1 percent of its May record high, on news of recovering crude prices and a softer dollar. The Dow Jones industrial average declined 0.63 percent to end at 17,982.52 points and the S&P 500 lost 0.52 percent to 2,091.48. The Nasdaq Composite edged down 0.05 percent to 4,945.89.
According to Charlie Johnson, a sales trader at Greentree Brokerage Services in Philadelphia, "Earnings have been decent, outperforming, but outperforming expectations that have been dramatically lowered."