Investing.com - The dollar remained mostly higher against a basket of other major currencies on Thursday, after data showed that U.S. jobless claims rose less-than-expected last week and as expectations for a near-term U.S. rate hike continued to support.
In a report, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending April 4 rose by 14,000 to 281,000 from the previous week’s total of 267,000.
Analysts had expected initial jobless claims to rise by 18,000 to 285,000 last week.
The dollar had strengthened after New York Federal Reserve President William Dudley said Wednesday that the timing of a rate hike depends on economic data and added that a rate hike in June could still be possible if the labor market recovery remained strong.
Fed Governor Jerome Powell said he would be willing to start tightening policy despite current low levels of inflation, adding the Fed could act in June if economic data over the next two months showed that the recovery remained on track.
Meanwhile, Wednesday’s minutes of the Fed’s March meeting showed that several officials believe the economic outlook is likely to warrant an interest rate hike in June.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.82% to 99.05.
EUR/USD dropped 0.92% to 1.0682, even as data earlier showed that German industrial production rose 0.2% in February, ahead of expectations for a 0.1% gain as the production of energy and capital goods increased.
Another report showed that German exports rose 1.5% in February while imports also increased, pointing to growth in the region’s largest economy.
The pound was also lower, with GBP/USD declining 0.85% to 1.4742.
In a report, the U.K. Office for National Statistics said the country's trade deficit widened to £10.34 billion in February from £9.17 billion in January, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated deficit of £8.41 billion. Analysts had expected the trade deficit to hit £9.00 billion in February.
Also Thursday, the Bank of England left interest rates unchanged at their current record low of 0.50%, where they have been since March 2009. The central bank also maintained the stock of asset purchases financed by the issuance of central bank reserves at £375 billion.
Elsewhere, the dollar was higher against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY adding 0.16% to 120.33 and with USD/CHF rallying 1.02% to 0.9758.
The Australian dollar remained stronger, with AUD/USD rising 0.20% to 0.7697, while NZD/USD held steady at 0.7549.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD gained 0.41% to trade at 1.2603 after data showed that Canadian building permits fell 0.9% in February, confounding expectations for a 5.0% increase. January's change in building permits was revised to a 12.3% drop from a previously estimated 12.9% decline.