Investing.com - The dollar was higher against the yen on Thursday, boosted by hopes for a breakthrough on an agreement to end the U.S. government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling, ahead of a deadline to avoid a sovereign debt default.
During U.S. morning trade, the dollar gained ground against the yen, with USD/JPY advancing 0.66% to 98.00.
Hopes that the partial U.S. government shutdown may soon end received a boost from news that House Republican leaders were to hold their first meeting with President Barack Obama since the shutdown began later on Thursday.
President Obama has demanded Republicans raise the U.S. debt ceiling and reopen the government before negotiations on future fiscal policy can take place.
Demand for the dollar was also underpinned after the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting showed that most policymakers were still in favor of tapering stimulus this year.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew reiterated Thursday that the U.S. will reach its debt ceiling on October 17 and warned that the political crisis is starting to hurt the economy. The comments came during testimony to the Senate finance committee.
The dollar shrugged off a report by the Department of Labor showing that U.S. initial jobless claims rose to 374,000 last week, an increase of 66,000 from the previous week's unrevised figure of 308,000.
The government shutdown accounted for 15,000 claims, the report said.
The euro was little changed against the dollar, with EUR/USD inching up 0.06% to 1.3530.
The pound was steady close to three-week lows against the greenback, with GBP/USD inching up 0.04% to 1.5962.
Sterling showed little reaction after the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee voted to leave its benchmark interest rate on hold at 0.5% and made no changes to its GBP375 billion quantitative easing program, in a decision that was widely expected.
The dollar was flat against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF inching up 0.01% to 0.9100.
Elsewhere, the greenback was broadly higher against its Australian, New Zealand and Canadian counterparts, with AUD/USD easing up 0.13% to 0.9455, NZD/USD slipping 0.13% to 0.8287 and USD/CAD dipping 0.09% to trade at 1.0385.
Data released on Thursday showed that Canada’s new housing price index inched up by a seasonally adjusted 0.1% in August, below forecasts for a 0.3% gain.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.07% to 80.51.
During U.S. morning trade, the dollar gained ground against the yen, with USD/JPY advancing 0.66% to 98.00.
Hopes that the partial U.S. government shutdown may soon end received a boost from news that House Republican leaders were to hold their first meeting with President Barack Obama since the shutdown began later on Thursday.
President Obama has demanded Republicans raise the U.S. debt ceiling and reopen the government before negotiations on future fiscal policy can take place.
Demand for the dollar was also underpinned after the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting showed that most policymakers were still in favor of tapering stimulus this year.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew reiterated Thursday that the U.S. will reach its debt ceiling on October 17 and warned that the political crisis is starting to hurt the economy. The comments came during testimony to the Senate finance committee.
The dollar shrugged off a report by the Department of Labor showing that U.S. initial jobless claims rose to 374,000 last week, an increase of 66,000 from the previous week's unrevised figure of 308,000.
The government shutdown accounted for 15,000 claims, the report said.
The euro was little changed against the dollar, with EUR/USD inching up 0.06% to 1.3530.
The pound was steady close to three-week lows against the greenback, with GBP/USD inching up 0.04% to 1.5962.
Sterling showed little reaction after the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee voted to leave its benchmark interest rate on hold at 0.5% and made no changes to its GBP375 billion quantitative easing program, in a decision that was widely expected.
The dollar was flat against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF inching up 0.01% to 0.9100.
Elsewhere, the greenback was broadly higher against its Australian, New Zealand and Canadian counterparts, with AUD/USD easing up 0.13% to 0.9455, NZD/USD slipping 0.13% to 0.8287 and USD/CAD dipping 0.09% to trade at 1.0385.
Data released on Thursday showed that Canada’s new housing price index inched up by a seasonally adjusted 0.1% in August, below forecasts for a 0.3% gain.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.07% to 80.51.