Investing.com - The dollar edged higher against the other major currencies on Thursday, ahead of the weekly U.S. jobless claims report, as sentiment on the yen remained under broad pressure and investors also awaited the Bank of England’s upcoming policy decision.
USD/JPY gained 0.53% to 108.98.
Sentiment on the yen remained fragile since Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said on Monday that financial authorities are prepared to intervene in the currency market if excessive moves in the yen are enough to affect the country’s economy.
However, Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said earlier Thursday that it would be difficult for Japan's finance ministry to intentionally weaken the yen to boost exports.
EUR/USD edged down 0.14% to 1.1409.
The dollar was steady against the pound, with GBP/USD at 1.4438 and was lower against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF shedding 0.20% to 0.9692.
Later Thursday, the BoE was expected to leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 0.5% at the level of its monthly asset purchases at £375 billion.
Investors were looking ahead to comments by BoE Governor Mark Carney, scheduled after the policy statement, for indications on the central bank’s future policy moves.
The pound has also been under pressure in recent months amid concerns over a potential British exit from the European Union, or Brexit. A referendum on the issue is set for June 23. Carney has repeatedly mentionned the risks a Brexit would pose to U.K. growth.
The Australian dollar was lower, with AUD/USD down 0.56% at 0.7335, while NZD/USD was little changed at 0.6822.
Elsewhere, USD/CAD held steady at 1.2848.
The commodity-related loonie found some support as oil prices rebounded after the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday that U.S. crude inventories fell 3.4 million barrels to 540 million barrels last week, compared with analyst expectations for an increase of 714,000 barrels.
But the data was offset by news of an expected increase in Canadian oil sand crude output after wildfires disrupted over 1 million barrels of daily production capacity.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.17% at 93.96.