The U.S. dollar slipped against major currencies this week, as Greece passed new austerity measures, which lifted the euro, and U.S. economic data have also weighed on the greenback.
On Wednesday, the Greek parliament passed a 78-billion-euro package of austerity measures to help the country receive international aids. It is regarded as the only way that Greece can gain trust from international organizations, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Union (EU).
However, the government's austerity measures have been strongly opposed by Greek people, who participated in large scale strikes and clashed with police.
The passed fiscal measures paved the way for Greece to receive financial aid from the IMF and the EU, and also stimulated investors' confidence on the euro. The shared currency climbed 2.3 percent to 1.452 against the dollar this week.
Meanwhile, mixed economic data showed that the U.S. economy still faces uncertainties, which drove investors to trade dollars to prevent losses.
Data showed that the U.S. housing markets may pick up momentum. On Tuesday, The S&P/Case Shiller Home Price Index showed home prices in 20 major cities were up 0.7 percent in April, topping estimates of a gain of 0.3 percent. The figure also marked the first monthly gain in eight months.
The National Association of Realtor said Wednesday that the Pending Home Sales Index increased 8.2 percent to 88.8 in May, bouncing back from April's seven-month low. The figure also beat the economists' previous estimate.
However, the consumption in the United States was still weak. The U.S. Commerce Department said that consumer spending increased 4.6 billion dollars or less than 0.1 percent in May, much slower than the 0.3 percent -increase in April. Also, it reported that personal incomes in the United States increased 0.3 percent or 36.2 billion dollars in May, less than expected.
The New York-based Conference Board, a private research group, also reported Tuesday that the U.S. consumer confidence index in June fell to 58.5 from 61.7 in May.
The job markets haven't seen much improvements as the U.S. Labor Department said initial jobless claims last week slipped just 1,000 to 428,000, still well above the key level of 400,000.
In all, the economic data's negative effect on the dollar has offset the positive force and pushed the dollar further down this week.
The Federal Reserve ended its second round of quantitative easing policy or QE2 as expected on June 30. The markets were not affected much by the move as it was well anticipated and reflected by markets' move beforehand. However, whether the Fed will carry out a new easing policy still remained unknown as the economy lacked fuel even after two rounds of easing measures.
Against the Japanese yen, the dollar gained 0.5 percent this week as Japan's jobless rate showed an unexpected easing in May, while consumer prices rose as expected in the aftermath of the March earthquake and tsunami.
The greenback lost 0.69 percent against the British pound, but rose 1.8 percent against the Swiss franc.
On Wednesday, the Greek parliament passed a 78-billion-euro package of austerity measures to help the country receive international aids. It is regarded as the only way that Greece can gain trust from international organizations, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Union (EU).
However, the government's austerity measures have been strongly opposed by Greek people, who participated in large scale strikes and clashed with police.
The passed fiscal measures paved the way for Greece to receive financial aid from the IMF and the EU, and also stimulated investors' confidence on the euro. The shared currency climbed 2.3 percent to 1.452 against the dollar this week.
Meanwhile, mixed economic data showed that the U.S. economy still faces uncertainties, which drove investors to trade dollars to prevent losses.
Data showed that the U.S. housing markets may pick up momentum. On Tuesday, The S&P/Case Shiller Home Price Index showed home prices in 20 major cities were up 0.7 percent in April, topping estimates of a gain of 0.3 percent. The figure also marked the first monthly gain in eight months.
The National Association of Realtor said Wednesday that the Pending Home Sales Index increased 8.2 percent to 88.8 in May, bouncing back from April's seven-month low. The figure also beat the economists' previous estimate.
However, the consumption in the United States was still weak. The U.S. Commerce Department said that consumer spending increased 4.6 billion dollars or less than 0.1 percent in May, much slower than the 0.3 percent -increase in April. Also, it reported that personal incomes in the United States increased 0.3 percent or 36.2 billion dollars in May, less than expected.
The New York-based Conference Board, a private research group, also reported Tuesday that the U.S. consumer confidence index in June fell to 58.5 from 61.7 in May.
The job markets haven't seen much improvements as the U.S. Labor Department said initial jobless claims last week slipped just 1,000 to 428,000, still well above the key level of 400,000.
In all, the economic data's negative effect on the dollar has offset the positive force and pushed the dollar further down this week.
The Federal Reserve ended its second round of quantitative easing policy or QE2 as expected on June 30. The markets were not affected much by the move as it was well anticipated and reflected by markets' move beforehand. However, whether the Fed will carry out a new easing policy still remained unknown as the economy lacked fuel even after two rounds of easing measures.
Against the Japanese yen, the dollar gained 0.5 percent this week as Japan's jobless rate showed an unexpected easing in May, while consumer prices rose as expected in the aftermath of the March earthquake and tsunami.
The greenback lost 0.69 percent against the British pound, but rose 1.8 percent against the Swiss franc.
