The dollar turned higher versus major rivals on Thursday, after
comments from European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet about
U.S. officials' support for the greenback.
The dollar index
(DXY), which measures the U.S. currency against a trade-weighted basket
of six major rival currencies, crept up to 74.685, reversing an earlier
loss and compared to 74.648 in late North American trading Wednesday.
The euro traded at $1.5078, slipping from $1.5117 earlier in the session but still up slightly from $1.5040 late Wednesday.
The dollar had been under pressure through the early U.S. trading hours
after the Labor Department said 457,000 Americans filed initial claims
for unemployment benefits in the latest week, down 5,000. Economists
surveyed by MarketWatch had anticipated initial claims would increase
to 480,000.
The
Euro challenged levels above 1.51 against the dollar on Wednesday, but
was unable to break resistance and gradually edged lower.
For the Yen - Risk
appetite was slightly stronger during Wednesday on renewed hopes for a
sustained global economic recovery. Bank of Japan officials remained
generally cautious over the economic outlook while there was further
evidence of policy tensions between government officials with pressure
for yen gains to be capped.
