WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After exhibiting some weakness in the Asian session, the U.S. dollar rebounded smartly Thursday morning, but fell again and stayed weak thereafter as Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the bank will not hike interest rates anytime soon.
Rising Treasury yields amid hopes of a big fiscal stimulus from Joe Biden's administration had lifted dollar earlier in the day.
The fresh U.S. stimulus package is expected to include $2,000 in stimulus checks, funding to state and local governments and other emergency spending measures. CNN reported that Biden is mulling a huge spending package worth about $2 trillion.
First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits climbed by much more than expected in the week ended January 9th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday.
The report said initial jobless claims rose to 965,000, an increase of 181,000 from the previous week's revised level of 784,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 795,000 from the 787,000 originally reported for the previous week.
A separate report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed U.S. import and export prices both increased by more than expected in the month of December.
The dollar index, which climbed to 90.58, slid to a low of 90.08 about an hour past noon. It was last seen hovering around 90.20, down 0.17% from previous close.
Against the Euro, the dollar was flat at $1.2160, after staying firm around $1.2112 earlier in the day. The euro fell against its major opponents in the European session after minutes from the European Central Bank's December meeting showed that policymakers expressed concerns over the recent appreciation of the domestic currency that could have an adverse impact on the inflation outlook.
The Pound Sterling was stronger by nearly 0.4% against the dollar, fetching $1.3689 a unit.
The Yen was marginally stronger at 103.79 a dollar. The value of core machine orders in Japan was up 1.5 percent on month in November, the Cabinet Office said on Thursday - coming in at 854.8 billion yen. That beat forecasts for a decline of 6.2 percent following the 17.1 percent spike in October.
Against the Aussie, the dollar was weak at $0.7783, about 0.65% down from Wednesday's close of $0.7733.
The Swiss franc was little changed at CHF0.8878 a dollar, while the Loonie gained nearly 0.5% at C$1.2640 a dollar thanks to higher crude oil prices.
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