Dollar falls amid European uncertainties, Fed expectations

The U.S. dollar fell against major currencies this week as European debt crisis became more complex and raised investors' concerns about the economic health in the region. Meanwhile, the minutes of Federal Reserve's last monetary policy meeting showed disagreements between monetary policy makers. The European Union, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank said Tuesday Greece is likely to receive 8-billion-euro bailout money in early November to avoid debt default. The news helped to support the euro as the shared currency rose to 1.3669 against the dollar in late trading. However, uncertainties still remained in euro zone as Slovak lawmakers on Tuesday rejected expansion of the eurozone' s bailout fund. The euro trimmed gains against the greenback following the news. Slovak's political parties on Wednesday reached an agreement that will allow the parliament to approve enhancements to the eurozone's 440-billion-euro bailout fund. The news helped to raise investors' confidence in the euro. The shared currency rose more than 1 percent against the dollar on Wednesday. On Thursday, Slovak parliament finally approved expanding the European Financial Stability Facility, helping to stimulate investors' confidence in the euro. However, the European Central Bank warned that forcing private-sector bondholders to take losses on sovereign debt could hurt the euro and the eurozone banking sector. The euro rose 3.7 percent against the dollar this week. The minutes of the Fed' s September monetary policy meeting showed that Fed members saw "significant downside risks" to growth. These risks included household deleveraging, bigger-than-expected fiscal tightening, or a potential spillover from the European debt crisis. The minutes also showed that disagreements still existed among Fed' s members as two Fed officials wanted more aggressive measures to stimulate the economy. The dollar fell this week amid uncertainties in Europe and expectations of further easing policies by the Fed. The dollar index dropped 2.7 percent Meanwhile, economic news continued to affect the greenback. The U.S. Labor Department said initial jobless claims dropped 1,000 to 404,000 last week, in line with previous expectations by economists, showing that the job market was slightly improving. The Commerce Department reported the trade deficit dipped to 45.61 billion dollars in August, the lowest level in four months. The agency also said retail sales rose 1.1 percent in September from a month earlier, boosted by strong auto purchases. However, the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's preliminary reading of consumer sentiment index fell to 57.5 in October from 59.4 in September, showing that the consumer confidence may worsen. Japanese yen rose 0.7 percent against the dollar this week. The Britain' s Office for National Statistics reported that the total number of British unemployed rose 114,000 to 2.57 million in the three months ending in August, the highest since the three months ending in October 1994. The British pound gained 1.7 percent against the dollar this week.