US dollar weakens on ECB speculation

The U.S. dollar fell against most of the other major currencies Wednesday as markets expected the European Central Bank (ECB) would introduce stimulus program to boost the economy. ECB President Mario Draghi said last week he was comfortable with adding further stimulus next month. Reports said the ECB plans a package of policy options, including measures aimed at boosting lending to small- and mid- sized firms. Analysts thought that ECB rate cut next month is " more or less a done deal." On the U.S. economic front, a surprising rise in U.S. wholesale prices also raised worries somewhat about increasing inflation pressure, which might prompt the U.S. Federal Reserve to hike interest rates earlier than expected. With the data in mind, investors seemed more likely to stay on the sidelines, awaiting more inflation data, such as Consumer Price Index due out the following day, to assess the situation. The U.S. producer price index for final demand advanced 0.6 percent in April on a seasonally adjusted basis, said the Labor Department Wednesday. The increase in wholesale prices was the biggest in more than a year, exceeding market expectations of a 0. 2-percent rise. In late New York trading, the euro gained to 1.3708 dollars from 1.3699 dollars of the previous session, and the British pound decreased to 1.6769 dollars from 1.6822 dollars. The Australian dollar went up to 0.9380 dollars from 0.9357 dollars. The dollar bought 101.77 Japanese yen, lower than 102.29 yen of the previous session. The dollar moved down to 0.8900 Swiss francs from 0.8904 Swiss francs, and it edged down to 1.0879 Canadian dollars from 1.0913 Canadian dollars.