Investing.com - The dollar continued to trade at five-month lows against the other major currencies on Thursday, after the release of downbeat U.S. jobless claims data and as sentiment on the greenback remained fragile ahead of Friday’s nonfarm payrolls report.
USD/JPY was steady at 112.45.
The U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending March 26 increased by 11,000 to 276,000 from the previous week’s total of 265,000. Analysts expected jobless claims to hold steady at 265,000 last week.
A separate report showed that the Chicago purchasing managers’ index increased to 53.6 this month from a reading of 47.6 in February. Analysts had expected the index to rise to 50.0 in March.
The greenback remained under pressure after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said late Tuesday that global risks to the U.S. economy, including low oil prices and uncertainty over China justified taking a cautious approach to tightening monetary policy.
EUR/USD gained 0.56% to trade at 1.1402.
In the euro zone, data on Thursday showed that consumer prices fell 0.1% in March in line with forecasts, after falling 0.2% in February.
The dollar edged higher against the pound, with GBP/USD down 0.09% at 1.4366 and was lower against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF declining 0.62% to 0.9588.
The U.K. Office of National Statistics said on Thursday that gross domestic product rose by 0.6% in the three months to December, up from last month’s estimate of 0.5% growth. Economists had expected no change.
The U.K. economy expanded 2.1% on a year-over-year basis, better than the initial estimate of 1.9%. Again, economists had expected an unchanged reading.
Another report showed that the U.K. current account deficit widened to £32.7 billion in the fourth quarter, the equivalent to 7% of gross domestic product. Economists had expected a deficit of £21.1 billion.
The weak current account data highlighted concerns that the upcoming June 23 referendum on Britain’s European Union membership could hit investment income, leading the gap to widen.
Meanwhile, the Australian and New Zealand dollars were stronger, with AUD/USD up 0.29% at 0.7692, re-approaching Wednesday’s eight-month peak of 0.7706. NZD/USD rose 0.22% to 0.6936, near a nine-month high of 0.6963 hit on Wednesday.
USD/CAD dropped 0.68% to trade at a five-month low of 1.2876 after Statistics Canada said the country’s GDP rose 0.6% in January, exceeding expectations for an increase of 0.3%. Canada’s economy grew 0.2% the previous month.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.39% at a five-month low of 94.43.