Investing.com - The dollar pushed higher against the yen on Thursday as investors turned their attention to Friday’s nonfarm payrolls report, while the euro strengthened broadly after the European Central Bank announced no new monetary easing measures.
USD/JPY hit session highs of 102.00 and was last up 0.42% to 101.88.
The dollar found support after a report showed that the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week fell more-than-expected.
The Labor Department said initial jobless claims fell by 20,000 to 331,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 351,000. Analysts had expected jobless claims to fall by 16,000.
A separate report showed that the U.S. trade deficit widened significantly in December, as exports dropped 2.2% and imports rose 1.6%.
Investors were turning their attention to Friday’s U.S. nonfarm payrolls report for January, after poor U.S. manufacturing data earlier in the week sparked concerns over a possible slowdown in the economic recovery.
Elsewhere, EUR/USD hit 1.3619, the highest since January 30 and was last up 0.50% to 1.3599.
The euro initially turned lower after the ECB voted to leave interest rates across the euro zone unchanged at their record low of 0.25%. But the common currency strengthened after ECB President Mario Draghi did not outline any new measures to shore up slowing inflation.
Draghi said the ECB sees a protracted period of low inflation, not full blown deflation, and reiterated that the bank is “monitoring developments closely".
The pound pushed higher against the dollar, with GBP/USD rising 0.14% to 1.6333.
The Bank of England left interest rates unchanged at record lows of 0.5% following its meeting on Thursday, where they have been unchanged since March 2009.
The dollar was lower against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF down 0.49% to 0.8991.
The Australian dollar was trading at three-and-a-half week highs, with AUD/USD rising 0.59% to 0.8962. The Aussie’s gains came after stronger-than-forecast data on retail sales and trade on Thursday reinforced the view that the Reserve Bank would hold off on further rate cuts for now.
The New Zealand dollar was also higher, with NZD/USD climbing 0.69% to 0.8270.
The Canadian dollar was higher against the U.S. dollar, with USD/CAD down 0.19% to 1.1061.
Canada’s dollar initially fell after data on Thursday showed that the nation’s trade deficit widened to C$1.66 billion in December, from an upwardly revised deficit of C$1.53 billion in November. Analysts had expected Canada’s trade deficit to contract to C$1 billion.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.31% to 80.90.