Forex - Dollar softens as market braces for Fed stimulus decision

The dollar softened against most major currencies in U.S. afternoon trading on Thursday after market participants bet the Federal Reserve will keep overall policy loose at a monetary policy meeting next week even if it tapers its monthly asset-purchasing program.

Stimulus programs such as the Fed's monthly USD85 billion in asset purchases keep the dollar weak by driving down long-term interest rates.

In U.S. trading on Thursday, EUR/USD was down 0.08% at 1.3299, mainly due to soft European output numbers.

Many investors expect the Federal Reserve to announce plans to taper its monthly asset purchases at its Sept. 17-18 meeting.

However, expectations that the Fed will only slightly cut the amount of bonds it purchases each month — if it decides at all — sent investors chasing safe-haven yen positions against the greenback on Thursday.

Elsewhere, the Department of Labor reported earlier that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless claims in the U.S. fell by 31,000 to 292,000 from 323,000 in the previous week.

Analysts were expecting the number to rise by 7,000 to 330,000, though the report said the decline was largely due to two states not processing all of their claims because of computer upgrades.

The euro meanwhile, slid against the dollar after data revealed that industrial production in the euro area fell by 1.5% in July, the biggest drop in a year. 

Analysts were expecting a 0.1% decline. 

On a year-over-year basis industrial production fell 2.1% to the lowest level since April 2010, compared to expectations for a 0.1% decline.

Elsewhere, the greenback was up against the pound, with GBP/USDdown 0.08% at 1.5806.

The dollar was down against the yen, with USD/JPY down 0.45% at 99.45, and down against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF trading down 0.02% at 0.9304.

The dollar was mixed against its cousins in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with USD/CAD up 0.09% at 1.0328, AUD/USD down 0.72% at 0.9261 and NZD/USD trading up 0.72% at 0.8140.

The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.02% at 81.70.

On Friday, the U.S. will release data on retail sales, producer price inflation and preliminary data from the University of Michigan on consumer sentiment.