Forex - Dollar mixed vs. rivals after U.S. Fed holds interest rate steady

Forex Pros – The U.S. dollar was mixed against the other major currencies on Thursday, after the U.S. Federal Reserves decision to hold it benchmark interest rate steady at a record low.

During European morning trade, the greenback was up against the euro, with EUR/USD shedding 0.36% to hit 1.2266. The greenback was also up against its Canadian counterpart, with USD/CAD gaining 0.01% to hit 1.0397.

Late Wednesday, the Fed's said in a statement that economic conditions were likely to warrant keeping "exceptionally low" rates "for an extended period," repeating the language used in previous statements.

The statement also indicated that the euro zone debt crisis could undermine U.S. economic growth.

Meanwhile, earlier in the day, official data showed that Italian retail sales slipped further than forecast in April, falling 0.3%, after rising 0.5% in March.

The greenback was also up against its Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with AUD/USD shedding 0.59% to hit 0.8688; and USD/NZD soaring 1.14% to hit 0.7054.

The greenback was also down against the pound and the yen, with GBP/USD rising 0.05% to hit 1.4965, and USD/JPY shedding 0.28% to hit 89.55.

The yens gains came after Japan’s Finance Ministry said late Wednesday that the country’s export growth slowed for a third month in May. Exports rose 32.1% from a year earlier, but were down on April’s figure of 40.4%.

The greenback also dropped against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF sliding 0.05% to hit 1.1058.

The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 1.18%.

Later Thursday, the U.S. was to publish key data on durable goods orders, a leading indicator of production, as well as data on initial jobless claims, a key indicator of overall economic health.