US dollar falls on widening trade deficit

The U.S. dollar weakened against most major currencies Wednesday after a report showed U.S. trade deficit slightly widened in July. U.S. trade deficit in goods and services widened to 39.1 billion dollars in July from 34.5 billion dollars in June, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. However, the dollar's losses were limited by continuous fears over Syria. U.S. President Barack Obama said in Stockholm, Sweden, that the "international community's credibility is on the line." U. S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday voted to authorize President Obama to conduct a limited U.S. military operation in Syria. Moreover, the Federal Reserve issued its business survey, or the Beige Book, Wednesday, which said U.S. economy maintained a " modest to moderate" pace of expansion from early July through late August, due to more consumer spending on cars and housing. Meanwhile, the Australian dollar gained versus most of its counterparts as data showed the services sector of China, Australia's largest trading partner, expanded at a faster pace in August. The European Central Bank and the Bank of England will announce interest rate decisions Thursday. Also, the Bank of Japan is expected to keep its current monetary policy when it ends a two- day policy meeting Thursday. In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.3207 dollars from 1.3169 dollars of the previous session, and the British pound increased to 1.5623 dollars from 1.5563 dollars. The Australian dollar climbed to 0.9169 dollars from 0.9053 dollars. The dollar bought 99.74 Japanese yen, higher than 99.47 yen of the previous session. The dollar moved down to 0.9361 Swiss francs from 0.9364, and it went down to 1.0494 Canadian dollars from 1. 0536.