Dollar mixed after upbeat U.S. jobs, manufacturing data

Published 11/01/2012, 11:31 AM
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Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was mixed against the other major currencies on Thursday, after a string of better-than-forecast U.S. data boosted market sentiment, but uncertainty over Spain and Greece continued to weigh.

During U.S. morning trade, the dollar was higher against the euro, with EUR/USD slipping 0.14% to 1.2942.

The euro came off session lows earlier after the Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the U.S. fell to 363,000 last week from 372,000 the previous week, compared to expectations for a decline to 370,000.

The data came on the heels of a report showing that the U.S. private sector added 158,000 jobs this month, surpassing expectations for an increase of 135,000.

Also Thursday, the Institute for Supply Management said its index of U.S. purchasing managers rose to a five-month high of 51.7 in October from a reading of 51.5 in September.

A separate report showed that U.S. consumer confidence rose to the highest level since February 2008 in October.

Sentiment on the single currency remained weak amid uncertainty over when Spain may request a bailout and whether Greece will secure the next tranche of its bailout funding.

The greenback was little changed against the pound, with GBP/USD inching up 0.01% to 1.6130.

Demand for the pound remained supported despite data showing that the U.K. manufacturing PMI fell to 47.5 in October from a reading of 48.4 in September, compared to expectations for a dip to 48.1.

Elsewhere, the greenback was higher against the yen, with USD/JPY rising 0.49% to 80.15 and edged higher against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF easing up 0.08% to trade at 0.9322.

The yen came under pressure as investors resumed selling the currency, following initial disappointment after the Bank of Japan’s easing on Tuesday.

The greenback was broadly lower against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD shedding 0.21% to trade at 0.9971, AUD/USD rising 0.24% to 1.0399 and NZD/USD rising 0.57% to 0.8271.

The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.16% to 80.13.

Investors were anticipating U.S. government data on nonfarm payrolls on Friday, as well as the outcome of the upcoming U.S. presidential elections.



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