The U.S. dollar declined on Wednesday while the British pound was lifted by a bill to avert a no-deal Brexit at the end of October, easing market worries over the future state of the British economy.
British House of Commons passed the bill in its final reading by 327 votes to 299, meaning the government has to extend the Brexit deadline beyond Oct. 31, if a deal can not been reached with the EU by then, agency reports. In response, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who vowed to take his country out of the European Union on Oct. 31 with or without a deal, called upon MPs to back his plan to hold an early general election on Oct. 15.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, fell 0.55 percent at 98.4505 in late trading.
In late New York trading, the euro was up to 1.1032 U.S. dollars from 1.0966 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound rose to 1.2212 dollars from 1.2085 U.S. dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar increased to 0.6798 dollar from 0.6760 dollar.
The U.S. dollar bought 106.40 Japanese yen, higher than 105.99 Japanese yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar decreased to 0.9802 Swiss franc from
0.9874 Swiss franc, and it decreased to 1.3219 Canadian dollars from 1.3326 Canadian dollars.
