Investing.com - The dollar pared losses against the other major currencies on Thursday, easing off a five-month trough after positive U.S. data, although the Federal Reserve’s latest policy decision continued to weigh on the greenback.
USD/JPY was down 0.59% to 111.90.
The U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending March 12 increased by 7,000 to 265,000 from the previous week’s total of 258,000. Analysts expected jobless claims to rise by 10,000 to 268,000 last week.
In addition, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said that its manufacturing index improved to 12.4 this month from February's reading of -2.8. Analysts had expected the index to improve only to -1.7 in February.
The dollar remained under pressure after the Fed left its monetary policy unchanged on Wednesday and said that it is likely to raise interest rates twice this year – and not four times, as initially estimated.
EUR/USD climbed 0.51% to 1.1283.
In the euro zone, final data showed that the consumer price index rose 0.2% in February, exceeding expectations for a 0.1% uptick. Year-on-year, consumer prices fell 0.2% last month.
Core CPI rose 0.4% in February, after a 1.7% decline the previous month.
The dollar was lower against the pound and the Swiss franc, with GBP/USD up 0.74% at 1.4366 and with USD/CHF sliding 0.66% to 0.9702.
The Bank of England said it was holding the benchmark interest rate at 0.50%, in a widely expected move. The rate has been held at that level since March 2009. The central bank also said it was to maintain the stock of asset purchases financed by the issuance of central bank reserves at £375 billion.
Earlier Thursday, the Swiss National Bank held its deposit rate steady at -0.75% and said it would continue to intervene in the currency markets to weaken the franc, which it says remains “significantly overvalued.”
Meanwhile, the Australian and New Zealand dollars were sharply higher, with AUD/USD up 0.56% at 0.7593 and with NZD/USD rallying 1.22% to 0.6805.
In Australia, data earlier showed that the number of employed people rose by 300 in February, disappointing expectations for an increase of 10,000. However, Australia’s unemployment rate ticked down to 5.8% last month from 6.0% in January.
The kiwi found support after Statistics New Zealand said gross domestic product rose 0.9% in the fourth quarter, exceeding expectations for 0.6%. Year-on-year, New Zealand GDP expanded by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, compared to expectations for 2.0%.
USD/CAD declined 0.50% to 1.3035.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.65% at 95.08, after hitting a five-month low of 94.70 earlier in the day.