Investing.com - The dollar slipped lower against the other major currencies on Thursday, as sentiment on the greenback was fragile ahead of a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen due later in the day.
The dollar was lower against the yen, with USD/JPY down 0.27% at 119.93.
The dollar had found support after comments by some Fed officials indicated Monday night that a U.S. rate hike is still on the cards this year.
St. Louis Fed President James Bullard and Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart indicated in separate remarks that the U.S. central bank is still likely to raise short-term interest rates this year.
Investors were now looking ahead to a speech by Fed Chair Janet Yellen later in Thursday for additional clarity on the bank’s decision last week to leave interest rates on hold.
EUR/USD edged up 0.16% to 1.1202.
The German research institute Ifo earlier reported that its business climate index ticked up to 108.5 this month from August’s 108.4. It was the highest reading in four months and was ahead of forecasts of 108.0.
The single currency also remained supported after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said on Wednesday that it was too early decide whether or not to add stimulus measures.
"More time is needed to determine in particular whether the loss of growth momentum in emerging markets is of a temporary or permanent nature and to assess the driving forces behind the recent episodes of severe financial turbulence," he said.
Elsewhere, the dollar was lower against the pound and the Swiss franc, with GBP/USD up 0.12% at 1.5265 and with USD/CHF sliding 0.32% to 0.9767.
The Australian dollar was lower, with AUD/USD retreating 0.74% to 0.6950, while NZD/USD added 0.16% to 0.6287.
Earlier Thursday, Statistics New Zealand reported that the country's trade deficit widened to NZ$1,035 million in August from NZ$649 million the previous month. Analysts had expected the trade deficit to widen to NZ$850 million last month.
USD/CAD edged up 0.13% to trade at 1.3337.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.18% at 96.22, off one-month highs of 96.65 reached on Wednesday.