Investing.com - Investing.com - The dollar weakened against most major currencies on Wednesday after disappointing U.S. retail sales and wholesale pricing reports sent investors rethinking the pace at which the Federal Reserve may raise interest rates.
In U.S. trading on Wednesday, EUR/USD was up 0.92% at 1.2774.
The Census Bureau reported earlier that U.S. retail sales fell 0.3% last month, exceeding forecasts for a 0.1% decline, after expanding 0.6% in August.
Core retail sales, which exclude motor vehicles and parts, dropped 0.2% in September, defying expectations for a 0.3% gain, after rising 0.3% the previous month.
A separate report showed that U.S. producer price inflation slipped 0.1% in September, disappointing expectations for a 0.1% rise, after a flat reading in August.
September's year-on-year PPI rose 1.6%, missing expectations for a 1.8% gain.
Elsewhere, the Federal Reserve of New York reported that its manufacturing index tumbled to a six-month low of 6.2 in October from 27.5 in September. Analysts had expected the index to tick down to 25.5 this month.
Wednesday's data sent investors rethinking how fast the Federal Reserve will move to tighten policy in 2015, which battered the dollar and gave investors room to overlook Tuesday's soft data out of Europe.
The ZEW Centre for Economic Research reported Tuesday that its German economic sentiment index fell to -3.6 this month from September's 6.9 reading. Analysts had expected the index to come in at 1.0 in October.
The index of euro zone economic sentiment plunged to 4.1 in September from 14.2 in August, well below expectations for a decline to 7.1.
A separate report showed that euro zone industrial production contracted 1.8% in August from July, outpacing expectations for a 1.6% decline. July's figure was revised to a 0.9% rise from a previously estimated 1.0% increase.
Year-on-year, industrial production fell 1.9% in August, surpassing expectations for a 0.9% decline and after rising at a rate of 1.6% the previous month.
The dollar was down against the yen, with USD/JPY down 0.89% at 106.11, and down against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF down 1.02% at 0.9440.
The greenback was down against the pound, with GBP/USD up 0.17% at 1.5930.
Data released earlier revealed that the U.K. claimant count declined less than expected in August, although the unemployment rate fell to the lowest level since October 2008.
The U.K. Office for National Statistics said that the claimant count fell by 18,600 last month, missing expectations for a decline of 35,000 people. The August figure was revised to a drop of 33,200 people from a previously reported decline of 37,200.
The report also showed that the rate of unemployment declined to 6.0% in the three months to August, compared to expectations for a reading of 6.1% and down from 6.2% in the three months to July.
The dollar was down against its cousins in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with USD/CAD down 0.17% at 1.1278, AUD/USD up 0.84% at 0.8786 and NZD/USD up 1.61% at 0.7968.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.76% at 85.25.
On Thursday, the U.S. is to release the weekly report on initial jobless claims as well as data on industrial production and manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia region.
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