U.S. Dollar Lower On President Trump Impeachment

The U.S. dollar depreciated against its most major opponents in Asian trading on Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to impeach President Donald Trump on grounds of misusing his powers and obstructing the congressional probe into his dealings with Ukraine.

Donald Trump becomes the third US president to be impeached by the House of Representatives, after the impeachments of Bill Clinton and Andrew Johnson.

Trump will now face a Senate trial next month.

However, removing the president from office requires a two-thirds majority in the Senate, where the Republicans enjoy control.

Investors await the U.S. Philadelphia Fed manufacturing survey, weekly jobless claims and existing home sales due later in the day for more direction.

The greenback traded mixed against its major rivals on Wednesday. While it held steady against the yen and the franc, it rose against the pound and the euro.

The greenback fell to 0.9797 against the franc, from a high of 0.9810 hit at 7:55 pm ET. The next possible support for the greenback is seen around the 0.96 level.

The greenback pulled back to 109.56 against the yen, after rising to a 3-day high of 109.68 at 7:50 pm ET. If the greenback slides further, it may find support around the 106.00 level.

The Bank of Japan left its massive monetary stimulus unchanged, as expected.

The central bank maintained the interest rate at -0.1 percent on current accounts maintained by the financial institutions.

The greenback edged down to 1.1133 against the euro, following an advance to 1.1112 at 5:00 pm ET. The greenback is seen locating support around the 1.14 region.

The U.S. currency dropped to a 2-day low of 0.6881 against the aussie, after having climbed to 0.6848 at 5:45 pm ET. On the downside, 0.70 is possibly seen as the next support level for the greenback.

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that Australia jobless rate fell a seasonally adjusted 5.2 percent in November.

That was beneath expectations for 5.3 percent, which would have been unchanged from the October reading.

In contrast, the greenback recovered to 1.3120 against the loonie and 1.3077 against the pound, from its early lows of 1.3108 and 1.3091, respectively. The greenback is likely to challenge resistance around 1.33 against the loonie and 1.27 against the pound.

The greenback was steady against the kiwi, moving in the 0.6596 - 0.6576 range. At yesterday's close, the pair was worth 0.6588.

Looking ahead, Swiss trade data for November is due out at 2:00 am ET.

U.K. retail sales for November are slated for release in the European session.

At 7:00 am ET, the Bank of England announces its interest rate decision. Economists widely forecast the benchmark to remain at 0.75 percent and asset purchase program at GBP 435 billion.

In the New York session, Canada wholesale sales for October, U.S. weekly jobless claims for the week ended December 14, existing home sales and leading index for November will be featured.