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New York - The euro traded a whisker lower against the dollar on Wednesday a day ahead of a European Central Bank (ECB) monetary policy meeting.
With the ECB expected to leave its ultra-loose policy unchanged, all eyes will be on ECB President Mario Draghi's news conference after the meeting.
"The risk is for euro gains if the ECB fails to point to further stimulus in the coming months," said Phil McHugh, trading floor manager at Currencies Direct.
"However, Mario Draghi will also be eager for the euro not to strengthen too much beyond current levels, so we could be in for more mixed signals."
The single currency bought $1.1339, down a touch from $1.1346 on Tuesday.
The dollar firmed slightly amid renewed worries about the faltering global economy.
Poor Japanese trade data released on Wednesday aggravated investor jitters over China's economy and a slump in global growth, pushing investors toward the greenback, considered a safe haven amid uncertainty.
Government figures showed Japan's exports to China fell again last month as a slowdown in Asia's largest economy weighs on the countries' huge trading links, while shipments to the key US market also stumbled.
Analysts said the weak data adds pressure on the Bank of Japan to launch another round of asset purchases to kick start the economy, which contracted in the second quarter. The BoJ has a monetary policy meeting next week.
The Federal Reserve holds a policy meeting next Tuesday and Wednesday. Most analysts have ruled out a rate hike at that meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed's policy arm, after it passed on an increase at the September meeting.
The odds of a hike at the December FOMC meeting, the last of the year, have fallen to 32% from 41% on September 30, according to futures data compiled by Bloomberg. Expectations have grown that the FOMC could wait until March or even later in 2016 for the liftoff.
