Investing.com - The dollar was mixed against the other major currencies on Wednesday, but was trading within close distance of a multi-year high after the release of positive U.S. jobless claims data and after the Federal Reserve said it expected to start raising interest rates next year.
In a report, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending December 12 fell by 6,000 to 289,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 295,000. Economist had forecast an increase of 1,000.
The dollar also found support after the Fed on Wednesday said it would be "patient" before raising rates, guidance which it said is consistent with earlier assurances statement that rates would stay low "for a considerable time."
At the bank’s post policy meeting press conference Fed Chair Janet Yellen said the Fed was unlikely to raise rates for the "next couple of meetings" indicating that a move in April at the earliest is possible.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was up 0.26% to 89.50, not far from last week's five-year high of 89.78.
The dollar rose to 19-month highs against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF up 0.82% to 0.9809, while EUR/CHF rose 0.36% to trade at 1.2051 after the Swiss National Bank introduced a negative exchange rate of -0.25% on sight deposit account balances and reiterated its commitment to maintaining the minimum exchange rate of CHF 1.20 per euro.
EUR/USD fell to two-week lows of 1.2279 before consolidating at 1.2285, still down 0.47% for the day.
Earlier Thursday, the Ifo Institute said its business climate index for Germany rose to 105.5 this mongh from a reading of 104.7 in November. Analysts had expected the index to tick up to 105.4 in December.
USD/JPY was up 0.17% to 118.85.
The traditional safe haven yen rallied earlier in the week as a rout in oil prices continued, adding to fears over the global economic outlook and the impact of oil’s drop on weakening emerging market economies and their currencies.
The Russian ruble pushed higher, with USD/RUB down 6.20% at 60.95 after the Finance Ministry said on Wednesday that it had started selling foreign currency in an attempt to shore up the ruble.
The ruble fell to fresh record lows against the dollar on Tuesday, after a surprise interest rate hike failed to ease selling pressure on the currency from falling oil and western sanctions.
The pound edged higher, with GBP/USD up 0.30% to 1.5623 after the Office for National Statistics said that U.K. retail sales rose 1.6% last month, compared to forecasts for a 0.3% gain. October’s figure was revised up to an increase of 1.0% from a previously estimated 0.8% gain.
Core retail sales, which exclude automobile sales, were up 1.7% and rose 6.9% from a year earlier. Economists had forecast a monthly increase of 0.4% and an annual gain of 4.5%.
The Australian, New Zealand and Canadian dollars were broadly stronger, with AUD/USD climbing 0.86% to 0.8196 and NZD/USD up 0.52% to 0.7749, while USD/CAD slipped 0.24% to trade at 1.1603.