US dollar mostly up in mid-week

The US dollar has been mostly on the rise for about 5 weeks already. At present, the greenback is getting stronger vs the majors driven by anticipated fresh labour market report in the USA as well as the ECB's determination. At the same time, some weakening was recorded in the pair with the Japanese yen.

The US Dollar index reported gained 0.1%. 

The euro-to-US dollar exchange rate improved to $1.1308 after some weakening to $1.1297 earlier today. For now, the rate stands at the level observed at the closure of the NY trading session yesterday.

Meanwhile, the Japanese yen is gaining grounds against the greenback. On Wednesday the US dollar-to-yen rate decreased to some 111.83 (111.89 earlier). 

The pound sterling weakened against the US dollar to some $1.3154. The currency felt pressure from fruitless Brexit talks that were held in Brussels on Tuesday. At the same time, the parties will back to the negotiating table today.

Australian dollar collapsed in the mid-week touching the 2-month bottom due to negative GDP report. According to the available data, Australian recorded slower economic growth at 0.2%, while the market analysts generally anticipated at least the Q3 figures (0.3%).

The yuan also lost grounds against the US dollar. Beijing stated that it would maintain an almost stable yuan rate this week.

As for the US economic reports, ADP will release the labour market report today. It is expected that the figures will show an increase in new jobs by 190,000 following the February hike of 213,000. At the same time, the official data of US Labour Department will be unveiled this Friday which is likely to report lower unemployment rate (3.9%) and higher average salaries (3.3% up y-o-y).