Investing.com - The dollar rose against the other major currencies on Thursday after a report showed that manufacturing activity in the Chicago region expanded at the fastest rate in 30 years in October.
During U.S. morning trade, the euro dropped to fresh two-week lows against the dollar, with EUR/USD down 0.78% to 1.3628.
The dollar strengthened after the Chicago manufacturing purchasing managers’ index jumped to 65.9 in October from 55.7 in September. Analysts had expected the index to decline to 55.0 this month.
The new orders component of the index jumped to a nine year high of 74.3 from 58.9 in September.
The data fuelled speculation that the Federal Reserve may start tapering stimulus sooner than expected, after the bank sounded more optimistic than anticipated in its assessment of the economy on Wednesday.
The Fed left its USD85 billion-a-month asset purchase program in place following its monthly policy meeting, and gave no clear indication whether it would start scaling back stimulus at the December meeting or continue it into the start of 2014.
The dollar trimmed losses against the yen, with USD/JPY down 0.18% to 98.33 after falling as low as 98.18 earlier.
The Bank of Japan made no changes to its stimulus program on Thursday and reiterated that inflation will be close to reaching the bank’s 2% target by April 2015.
Elsewhere, the dollar was almost unchanged against the pound, with GBP/USD dipping 0.02% to 1.603. The greenback rose to fresh session highs against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF gaining 0.74% to 0.9059.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars gave up gains against the greenback, with AUD/USD sliding 0.11% to 0.9473 and NZD/USD up just 0.05% to 0.8274.
The greenback was close to session lows against the Canadian dollar, with USD/CAD down 0.38% to 1.0439.
Canada’s dollar was boosted after official data showed that the Canadian economy grew 0.3% in August, above expectations for growth of 0.2%. Canada’s economy expanded 2% on a yearly basis, beating forecasts for an increase of 1.7%.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.53% to 80.20.
Also Thursday, data showed that U.S. initial jobless claims fell in line with expectations last week.
The Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending October 25 declined by 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 340,000.
During U.S. morning trade, the euro dropped to fresh two-week lows against the dollar, with EUR/USD down 0.78% to 1.3628.
The dollar strengthened after the Chicago manufacturing purchasing managers’ index jumped to 65.9 in October from 55.7 in September. Analysts had expected the index to decline to 55.0 this month.
The new orders component of the index jumped to a nine year high of 74.3 from 58.9 in September.
The data fuelled speculation that the Federal Reserve may start tapering stimulus sooner than expected, after the bank sounded more optimistic than anticipated in its assessment of the economy on Wednesday.
The Fed left its USD85 billion-a-month asset purchase program in place following its monthly policy meeting, and gave no clear indication whether it would start scaling back stimulus at the December meeting or continue it into the start of 2014.
The dollar trimmed losses against the yen, with USD/JPY down 0.18% to 98.33 after falling as low as 98.18 earlier.
The Bank of Japan made no changes to its stimulus program on Thursday and reiterated that inflation will be close to reaching the bank’s 2% target by April 2015.
Elsewhere, the dollar was almost unchanged against the pound, with GBP/USD dipping 0.02% to 1.603. The greenback rose to fresh session highs against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF gaining 0.74% to 0.9059.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars gave up gains against the greenback, with AUD/USD sliding 0.11% to 0.9473 and NZD/USD up just 0.05% to 0.8274.
The greenback was close to session lows against the Canadian dollar, with USD/CAD down 0.38% to 1.0439.
Canada’s dollar was boosted after official data showed that the Canadian economy grew 0.3% in August, above expectations for growth of 0.2%. Canada’s economy expanded 2% on a yearly basis, beating forecasts for an increase of 1.7%.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.53% to 80.20.
Also Thursday, data showed that U.S. initial jobless claims fell in line with expectations last week.
The Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending October 25 declined by 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 340,000.