Dovish Fed Comments, Weak Job Openings Data Send U.S. Dollar Down

(RTTNews) - The U.S. dollar weakened against its major counterparts in the New York session on Wednesday, as job openings came in below expectations in July, raising the possibility of a larger interest rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve at the meeting this month.

Data from the Labor Department showed that job openings decreased to 7.67 million in July from a downwardly revised 7.91 million in June.

Economists had expected job openings to dip to 8.10 million from the 8.18 million originally reported for the previous month.

Dovish remarks from Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic also weighed on the dollar.

Bostic said that the Fed must not maintain a restrictive policy stance for too long, intensifying speculation that the central bank may pivot towards easy policy soon.

"I believe we cannot wait until inflation has actually fallen all the way to 2 percent to begin removing restriction because that would risk labor market disruptions that could inflict unnecessary pain and suffering," he added.

The greenback declined to 5-day lows of 1.1095 against the euro, 1.3175 against the pound and 0.8471 against the franc, off its early highs of 1.1036, 1.3100 and 0.8518, respectively. The currency is likely to challenge support around 1.12 against the euro, 1.33 against the pound and 0.83 against the franc.

The greenback touched 143.99 against the yen, setting a 1-week low. Immediate support for the currency is seen around the 141.00 level.

The greenback retreated to 0.6749 against the aussie, 1.3500 against the loonie and 0.6216 against the kiwi, from an early more than 2-week high of 0.6685 and nearly 2-week highs of 1.3565 and 0.6169, respectively. The currency is seen finding support around 0.69 against the aussie, 1.32 against the loonie and 0.63 against the kiwi.