Dollar edges higher ahead of EU crisis summit

NEW YORK–The dollar firmed slightly against other major currencies Wednesday on the eve of a European Union summit focused on the eurozone sovereign debt crisis.

AP FILE PHOTO

Investors also were bracing for unemployment data in Germany, Europe’s largest economy, due Thursday and expected to show a rise in joblessness.

“The euro traded with limited movement for most of the session,” Briefing.com analysts said.

The euro fetched $1.2467 around

2100 GMT, dipping from $1.2495 at the same time Tuesday, but was little changed against the yen.

The dollar also made headway against the Japanese currency, rising to 79.71 yen from 79.51 yen late Tuesday.

DailyFX analysts said that Germany was expected to have added 3,000 people to the unemployed ranks in June.

“The slowing recovery may drag on the EUR-USD as it raises the risk for a prolonged recession in the euro area,” they said.

But the two-day EU summit that opens late Thursday in Brussels was expected to dominate the markets’ attention.

“The headlines coming out of the meeting may have larger implications for short-term price action as European policy makers increase their effort to address the debt crisis,” the DailyFX analysts said.

The dollar rose to 0.9631 Swiss francs, from 0.9611 late Tuesday, while the pound fell to $1.5563 from $1.5640.

Wells Fargo Bank analyst Nick Bennenbroek predicted choppy trading would continue in the next few days, “with a slight bias towards US dollar and yen strength, and weakness in most other foreign currencies.”