The U.S. dollar dropped to fresh three-year lows against other major currencies on Wednesday, as the euro continued to broadly strengthen and as the end of the U.S. government shutdown failed to give much momentum to the greenback.
The euro has been strongly supported this year boosted by growing optimism the European Central Bank will signal a quicker exit than expected from its stimulus program.
EUR/USD was up 0.13% at 1.2314, just off a three-year peak of 1.2335 hit overnight.
The dollar only briefly rebounded after Congress approved a measure on Monday to fund the government for around three weeks and President Donald Trump signed the bill, ending the three-day government shutdown.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.13% at a fresh three-year low of 89.75 by 03:00 a.m. ET (07:00 GMT).
The pound was stronger, with GBP/USD adding 0.19% to 1.4032.
The yen and the Swiss franc were also stronger, with USD/JPY shedding 0.34% to 109.97 and with USD/CHF sliding 0.32% to 0.9545.
The yen continued to be supported by the Bank of Japan’s decision on Tuesday to leave its monetary policy unchanged.
Elsewhere, the Australian and New Zealand dollars were higher, with AUD/USD up 0.27% at 0.8022 and with NZD/USD edging 0.18% higher to 0.7366.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD slipped 0.12% to trade at 1.2405.
