Foreign exchange market. American session: the euro hits 3-month lows against the U.S. dollar

The U.S. dollar rose against the most major currencies. The U.S. currency was still boosted by the better-than-expected U.S. economic data, published on Tuesday. U.S. durable goods orders rose 0.8% in April, after a 2.9% gain in March. The U.S. consumer confidence index climbed to 83.0 in May, from 81.7 in April.

The euro hits 3-month lows against the U.S. dollar. The decrease of the euro was driven by the disappointing economic data in the Eurozone and expectations for further stimulus measures from the European Central Bank. The number of people unemployed in Germany surged by 24,000 this month to 2.905 million. That was the largest increase in five years in May. Analysts had expected a decline by 14,000.

The German unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6.7%. This figure was expected by analysts.

Consumer spending in France fell 0.3% in April, after a 0.4% gain in March. Analysts had expected a 0.5 increase. On a yearly basis, consumer spending in France dropped 0.5% in April, after a 1.2% fall in March.

Adjusted M3 money supply in the Eurozone climbed 0.8% in April, after a 1.1% increase in March. Analysts had forecasted a 1.2% gain.

Private loans in the Eurozone declined 1.8% in April (March: -2.2%), beating expectations of a 2.1% fall.

The British pound hits 6-week lows against the U.S. dollar due to the weaker-than-expected U.K. retail sale volumes. The Confederation of British Industry released the U.K. retail sale volumes on Wednesday. The U.K. retail sale volumes dropped unexpectedly in May. The CBI retail sales volume balance was +16 in May, from +30 in April. It means that retail sales volume climbed in May from last year.

The Swiss franc traded lower against the U.S. dollar. Switzerland's gross domestic product climbed 0.5% in the first quarter (Q4 2013: +0.2%), meeting analysts’ expectations.

On a yearly basis, Switzerland's gross domestic product rose 2.0% in the first quarter (Q4 2013: +1.7%), missing analysts’ expectations of a 2.1% gain.

The New Zealand dollar hits 2.5-month lows against the U.S due to the weaker-than-expected New Zealand’s economic data. The ANZ business confidence index for New Zealand dropped to 53.5 in Mai, from 64.8 in April.

The Australian dollar traded lower against the U.S. dollar. Construction work done in Australia increased 0.3% in the first quarter, from a 1.1% decline in the fourth quarter of 2013. The fourth quarter of 2013 figure was revised down to a 1.1% fall from a 1% decrease. Analysts had expected a 0.3% fall.

Australia’s April leading index from Westpac Bank and the Melbourne Institute fell 0.5% to a score of 98.0. That was the weakest reading since late 2011.

The Japanese yen traded higher against the U.S. dollar after comments from the Bank of Japan governor Haruhiko Kuroda. He said that the monetary easing is possible even with interest rates at around zero percent. Market participants speculate that the Bank of Japan will implement further monetary easing measures to reach its inflation target.