Investing.com - The dollar was trading close to 12 year highs against a basket of major currencies on Thursday after data on initial jobless claims pointed to an ongoing recovery in the labor market as investors turned their attention to Friday’s nonfarm payrolls report.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was last up 0.39% to 92.56, not far from session highs of 92.76, the most since late 2003.
The dollar remained supported after the Department of Labor reported that initial jobless claims fell by 4,000 to 294,000 last week, just slightly above expectations of 290,000.
The report came a day after data showing the U.S. private sector added a larger-then-forecast 241,000 jobs in December. The upbeat reports boosted the outlook for the U.S. recovery and raised expectations for a strong reading of the government nonfarm payrolls due on Friday.
The euro was at 10-year lows, with EUR/USD at 1.1779, the weakest since December 2005.
The single currency remained under pressure amid mounting expectations for quantitative easing measures from the European Central Bank as soon as this month after data on Wednesday showing that euro zone inflation turned negative in December for the first time in over five years.
The dollar was higher against the yen, with USD/JPY up 0.29% to 119.57.
Elsewhere, GBP/USD was close to 17-month lows at 1.5082. The Bank of England left rates on hold earlier Thursday, in a widely anticipated decision.
USD/CHF was last up 0.51% to 1.0196.
The commodity-exposed Australian, New Zealand and Canadian dollars were broadly higher as oil prices showed signs of beginning to stabilize, supporting sentiment.
AUD/USD was up 0.50% to 0.8116, NZD/USD added 0.32% to trade at 0.7803 and USD/CAD was almost unchanged near more than five year highs at 1.1816.