Investing.com - The dollar remained broadly higher against a basket of other major currencies on Thursday, even after data showed that U.S. jobless claims rose to their highest level since February last week as markets were jittery ahead of fresh reform proposals from Greece.
The U.S. Department of Labor reported on Thursday that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending July 4 increased by 15,000 to 297,000 from the previous week’s total of 282,000. Analysts had expected initial jobless claims to fall by 7,000 to 275,000 last week.
The greenback had briefly weakened after the minutes of the Federal Reserve's June policy meeting released on Wednesday showed that policy makers need to see more signs of a strengthening U.S. economy before raising interest rates.
The minutes also pointed to concerns over Greece's financial problems, signaling that global market turmoil could derail the Fed's rate hike plans if contagion spreads.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.31% at 96.69.
EUR/USD slid 0.37% to 1.1036 as Greece had until the end of Thursday to present new proposals to secure a third bailout from creditors and prevent a possible exit from the euro zone.
The new proposals will be studied by euro zone finance ministers on Saturday and a full European Union summit on Sunday.
In the meantime, the Greek government extended bank closures and the €60 daily limit on cash machine withdrawals until Monday.
The pound was higher, with GBP/USD up 0.21% to 1.5393.
In a widely expected move, the Bank of England said on Thursday that it was holding the benchmark interest rate at 0.50%, where it has been standing 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.
Elsewhere, the dollar was higher against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY up 0.57% to 121.39 and with USD/CHF gaining 0.40% to 0.9491.
The yen turned lower as Chinese shares closed sharply higher Thursday morning, easing demand for safe haven assets.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were steady, with AUD/USD at 0.7429, off Wednesday's six-year lows of 0.7368 and with NZD/USD at 0.6729.
Earlier Thursday, data showed that the number of employed people in Australia rose by 7,300 last month, beating expectations for a 5,000 decline.
Australia's unemployment rate ticked up to 6.0% in June from a revised rate of 5.9% the previous month, compared to expectations for a rise to 61%.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD edged down 0.08% to trade at 1.2734 after data showed that Canada's new housing prices rose 0.2% in May, beating expectations for an uptick of 0.1% after a 0.1% rise the previous month.