The U.S. Dollar (CURRENCY:USD) has eased down against the bunch of other global currencies, which put an end to its six-day long rally. During the late Asian trade, USD/JPY (USDJPY) slipped 0.60% to 108.61. The weakness might be an outcome of profit-booking by the forex traders after the greenback hit two-week highs.

Yen retreats

The dollar depreciated against the Euro as well with EUR/USD (EURUSD) climbing 0.22% to 1.1396. The weak U.K. manufacturing output led Sterling down against the dollar. GBP/USD (GBPUSD) traded 0.15% lower at 1.4421. As per the official report, U.K. manufacturing output fell the fastest in March, leading to slowdown concerns.

Asian markets experienced difficulty in holding to its previous day’s gains as major indices jumped back into negative territory. Hang Seng Index (INDEXHANGSENG:HSI) inched down by 0.93% to 20,055.29, taking the biggest hit followed by S&P BSE Sensex (INDEXBOM:SENSEX) that dipped 0.74% to 25,581.06.

The European stocks too opened the day on a weaker note, impacted by the fall in oil prices to level around $44 per barrel. Among the major indices, France’s CAC 40 (INDEXEURO:PX1) drifted lower, losing 1.02% to 4,293.81.

Oil losing momentum

iPath S&P GSCI Crude Oil Total Return (NYSEARCA:OIL) prices nosedived during early European hours after an industry group revealed that the U.S. crude stock reserves grew steeply, more than earlier anticipated. The American Petroleum Institute said that the U.S. crude inventories increased 3.4 million barrels during the last week. The market is expected to await the official report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration for an accurate picture. According to analysts, an increase of 400,000 barrels in U.S. stocks is likely. Following the report, Brent Crude fell 0.35% to $45.36 and West Texas Intermediate Crude oil erased 0.87% to $44.27.