WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After drifting lower against its major rivals in the Asian session on Thursday, the U.S. dollar recovered and scored gains over some of its peers after data showed a drop in U.S. jobless claims in the week ended July 9th.
A report from the Federal Reserve showed industrial production increased by less than expected in the month of June. The Fed said industrial production rose by 0.4% in June after climbing by a downwardly revised 0.7% in May. Economists had expected industrial production to increase by 0.7%.
The Labor Department's data showed first-time claims for unemployment benefits decreased to 360,000 in the week ended July 10th, in line with economist estimates. That was down 26,000 from the previous week's revised level of 386,000.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York released a report on Thursday showing a substantial acceleration in the pace of growth in New York manufacturing activity in the month of July. Meanwhile, a report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia showed a slowdown in the pace of growth in Philadelphia-area manufacturing activity in the month of July.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told the U.S. House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday that the U.S. economy is 'a ways off' from where it needs to be for the Fed to tighten its easy monetary policy.
The dollar index, which drifted down to 92.27, rallied to 92.69 about a couple of hours past noon. The index was last seen hovering around 92.30, up 0.2% from the previous close.
Against the Euro, the dollar firmed to $1.1813, gaining more than 0.2%.
Against Pound Sterling, the dollar strengthened to $1.3824, up nearly 0.3% from Wednesday's close. the UK employment increased in three months to May signaling that the labor market continues to recover, the Office for National Statistics said. There was a quarterly increase in the employment rate of 0.1 percentage points to 74.8%.
Bank of England policymaker Michael Saunders has hinted at the likelihood of ending the bank's bond buying program soon to counter the spike in inflation.
The Yen firmed up against the dollar, recovering to 109.83 from 110.10 a dollar.
Against the Aussie, the dollar strengthened to 0.7421 from 0.7481 a unit of the Australian currency. The jobless rate in Australia came in at a seasonally adjusted 4.9% in June, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said. That was beneath expectations for 5% and down from 5.1% in May.
The Swiss franc weakened to 0.9178 a dollar from 0.9153. The Loonie dropped to 1.2596 from 1.2509 after crude oil prices declined sharply for a second straight session, and on weak private sector jobs data.
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