WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. dollar exhibited strength against most of its major rivals on Thursday, amid hopes of a positive outcome from U.S.-China trade discussions and expectations of a fairly strong monthly jobs data.
The Labor Department's data that showed a drop in initial jobless claims for the week ended March 29 aided the greenback's uptick. The dollar was also supported by a weak euro after data showed an unexpected drop in factory orders in Germany.
The dollar index moved up to 97.34 and was last seen hovering around 97.30, gaining about 0.21%.
With traders looking ahead to more discussions between British Prime Minister Theresa May and Labor Party leader Jeremey Corbyn on ways to prevent a no-deal Brexit, the pound sterling was mostly seen struggling to move higher today.
The Sterling was down by over 0.6% at $1.3082, retreading from a high of $1.3192. It dropped to a low of $1.3060 before edging up slightly from that level.
The Euro was down 0.08% at $1.225. The minutes of the European Central Bank's meeting in March revealed that the policymakers talked about announcing more stimulus to revive the sagging eurozone economy.
Against the Japanese Yen, the dollar was up, with a unit fetching 111.60 yen.
The dollar was little changed against the Aussie at 0.7114. Against the loonie and Swiss franc, it was gained 0.1% and 0.2%, with the respective pairs trading at 1.3358 and 1.0001.
According to the report released by the Labor Department today, first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly decreased in the week ended March 30th.
The report said initial jobless claims dipped to 202,000, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week's revised level of 212,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 216,000 from the 211,000 originally reported for the previous week.
With the unexpected decrease, initial jobless claims fell to their lowest level since hitting a matching number in December of 1969.
A report on payrolls, wages, and joblessness for the month of March is due tomorrow.
U.S. employment is expected to jump by 180,000 jobs in March after inching up by just 20,000 jobs in February. The unemployment rate is expected to hold at 3.8%.
On the trade front, U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to announce plans for summit meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, after the conclusion of his meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He today.
Earlier in the day, Trump tweeted that talks with China were moving along nicely.
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