Investing.com - The dollar held onto moderate gains against other major currencies in subdued trade on Thursday, helped by the release of positive U.S. jobless claims data, although the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting continued to weigh.
EUR/USD eased 0.08% to 1.1210, just off Tuesday’s six-month high of 1.1268.
The U.S. Department of Labor said initial jobless claims in the week ending May 20 increased by 1,000 to 234,000 from the previous week’s total of 233,000. Analysts expected jobless claims to rise to 238,000 last week.
The data came a day after the minutes of the Fed’s May meeting showed that the central bank plans to unwind its balance sheet towards the end of the year, possibly using a system where cap limits are implemented on how much the Fed would roll off every month without reinvesting.
The Fed also signaled that interest rates could be raised soon, but added that "it would be prudent" to wait for more U.S. economic data.
Elsewhere, GBP/USD fell 0.23% to 1.2940 after the U.K. Office for National Statistics said gross domestic product was revised down to 0.2% in the three months to March from the first estimate of 0.3%. It was the weakest growth since the first quarter of 2016.
USD/JPY gained 0.34% to 111.88, while USD/CHF edged down 0.12% to 0.9717.
The Australian dollar remained weaker, with AUD/USD down 0.48% at 0.7470, while NZD/USD held steady at 0.7046.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD added 0.16% to trade at 1.3429 after hitting a five-week low of 1.3388 overnight.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.15% at 97.10, pulling away from Tuesday’s six-month lows of 96.70.