NEW YORK: The dollar slipped slightly against the euro Wednesday after mixed US economic data and a Federal Reserve report that provided little in terms of news.
The euro ticked up to $1.3591 around 2200 GMT from $1.3589 at the same time Tuesday.
The dollar slipped against the Japanese currency, buying 102.32 yen compared with 102.48 yen the prior day. The euro dropped to 139.06 yen from 139.27.
The dollar earlier traded higher after payrolls firm ADP reported US private-sector hiring surged in November, with a net 215,000 new jobs created, the strongest month so far in 2013 and well above analyst expectations.
Other US data also came in better than anticipated, including a sharp rebound in new-home sales and a shrinking foreign trade deficit, helping to offset a slowdown services-sector growth reported by the Institute for Supply Management.
Traders took in stride the Federal Reserve's Beige Book report which showed a generally good picture of the economy in recent weeks.
"This report told us nothing we didn't already know; the economy continues to expand moderately in spite of fiscal and other headwinds," said Erik Johnson, senior US economist at IHS Global Insight.
The mostly positive US data and the Beige Book reinforced market focus on the Fed's December 17-18 monetary policy meeting, as traders speculate on when the central bank will begin to taper its $85 billion a month asset-purchase program.
"We still anticipate that the Fed will decide against beginning to taper asset purchases at the December meeting and instead choose to begin tapering in March," Johnson said.
The dollar fell to 0.9024 Swiss franc from 0.9041 late Tuesday. But the greenback firmed against the British pound, which fell to $1.6381 from $1.6390.
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