Investing.com - The dollar was steady against a basket of other major currencies on Thursday, after data showed that he number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week fell more than expected and investors eyed Friday's employment report.
The U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending May 30 declined by 8,000 to 276,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 284,000. Analysts had expected initial jobless claims to fall by 5,000 to 279,000 last week.
The report came after data on Wednesday showed that the U.S. private sector added 201,000 jobs last month, slightly ahead of expectations for 200,000 indicating that the recovery in the labor market is on track.
Investors were looking ahead to Friday's nonfarm payrolls report for further indications on the strength of the U.S. job market.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 95.41, off two-week lows of 94.68 hit earlier in the session.
EUR/USD pulled away from two-and-a-half week highs of 1.1380 to settle at 1.1263, down 0.10% for the day.
The euro strengthened earlier as German 10-year bund yields jumped to their highest level since September, narrowing the gap with their U.S. counterparts.
German bund yields act as benchmarks for European financial markets and higher yields push the euro higher against the dollar. Yields rise as prices fall.
But investors remained cautious after talks between Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels late Wednesday ended without an agreement to unlock more financial aid before the country runs out of money.
GBP/USD edged up 0.08% to 1.5353 after the Bank of England held the benchmark interest rate at 0.50%, in a widely expected move, and maintained the stock of asset purchases at £375 billion.
The yen was lower, with USD/JPY up 0.15% to 124.44, while USD/CHF held steady at 0.9345.
The Australian dollar and New Zealand dollars were weaker, with AUD/USD tumbling 1.43% to 0.7676 and with NZD/USD sliding 0.34% to 0.7128.
Earlier Thursday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said that retail sales were flat in April, disappointing expectations for a 0.4% rise.
A separate report showed that Australia's trade deficit widened to A$3.88 billion in April from A$1.23 billion in March.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD rose 0.33% to trade at 1.2491 even after Canada's Richard Ivey School of Business said its purchasing managers’ index rose to a 19-month high of 62.3 in May from a reading of 58.2 in April. Analysts had expected the index to fall to 55.5 last month.