Investing.com - The dollar was broadly higher against the other major currencies on Wednesday, as mounting hopes for a U.S. rate hike before the end of the year lent support to the greenback.
The dollar was higher against the yen, with USD/JPY up 0.15% at 121.25.
Investors were turning their attention to Friday's U.S. nonfarm payrolls report for indications on the likelihood of a December rate hike.
The Federal Reserve left rates on hold last week but indicated that it could still raise interest rates for the first time since 2006 at its December meeting.
EUR/USD slid 0.40% to trade at 1.0920.
The euro came under pressure after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi signaled the possibility for additional easing measures.
Draghi said policymakers would re-examine the degree of monetary stimulus already deployed at their December meeting and reiterated that they remained willing and able to act to bolster price growth in the euro area.
Elsewhere, the dollar was steady against the pound and the Swiss franc, with GBP/USD at 1.5414 and with USD/CHF at 0.9899.
Sterling found some support after market research group Markit its U.K. services purchasing managers index increased to 54.9 last month from a reading of 53.3 in September. Analysts had expected the index to rise to 54.5 in October.
The Australian dollar was steady, with AUD/USD at 0.7187, while NZD/USD dropped 0.47% to 0.6634.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday that retail sales rose 0.4% in September, in line with expectations and after a 0.4% gain the previous month.
A separate report showed that Australia's trade deficit narrowed to A$2.317 billion in September from A$2.711 billion in August, compared to expectations for a deficit of A$3.000 billion.
At the same time, Statistics New Zealand reported that the number of employed people declined by 0.4% in the third quarter, confounding expectations for a 0.4% rise.
The report also showed that New Zealand's unemployment rate ticked up to 6.0% in the three months to September from 5.9% in the second quarter, in line with expectations.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD eased up 0.08% to trade at 1.3070.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.28% at 97.52.