Dollar broadly higher vs. rivals ahead of U.S. data

The dollar was broadly higher against the other major currencies on Wednesday, as investors eyed the release of a string of U.S. economic reports later in the day, while caution ahead of the European Central Bank's policy meeting supported safe-haven demand.

Dollar rises broadly vs. counterparts, eyes on data

The dollar was lower against the euro, with EUR/USD

slipping 0.20% to 1.3602.

Sentiment on the euro remained vulnerable after Eurostat on Tuesday said consumer price inflation in the euro zone increased by 0.5% last month, down from 0.7% in April and missing expectations for a reading of 0.7%. The rate stands well below the ECB target of near but just under 2%.

The report added to expectations that the ECB will take steps to tackle low consumer price growth, which is threatening the fragile recovery in the euro zone.

Earlier Wednesday, Markit said Germany's services purchasing managers' index fell to 56.0 in May from 56.4 in April, confounding expectations for the index to remain unchanged.

Separately, Spain's services PMI fell to 55.7 in May, from a reading of 56.5 the previous month, while Italy's services PMI rose to 51.6 last month, from 51.1 in April.

The pound edged lower against the dollar, with GBP/USD down 0.13% to 1.6728.

Sterling strengthened mildly after Markit said the U.K. services PMI slipped to 58.6 last month, from a reading of 58.7 in April, compared to expectations for a fall to 58.2.

The dollar was higher against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY adding 0.11% to 102.62 and with USD/CHF up 0.14% to 0.8976.

The greenback was steady to higher against the Australian, New Zealand and Canadian dollars, with AUD/USD inching 0.06% higher to 0.9271, NZD/USD shedding 0.22% to 0.8413 and USD/CAD rising 0.23% to 1.0933.

The Aussie found support after official data earlier showed that Australia's gross domestic product expanded at a rate of 1.1% in the first quarter, after 0.8% growth in the three months to December, compared to expectations for an expansion of 0.9%.

The US Dollar Index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.15% to 80.68.

Later in the day, the U.S. was to release the ADP report on private sector job creation, as well as a report on trade balance.