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 0.22% at 96.59.
EUR/USD slid 0.28% to 1.1045 after Greece requested a new three-year bailout from its euro zone creditors and pledged some economic overhauls on Wednesday.
Whether European leaders accept Greece's request for more emergency loans at a crisis summit on Sunday will depend on whether Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras makes a drastic turnaround on pension cuts, tax increases and other austerity measures after five months of negotiations.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble said that "the actual examination can only begin once the full package has been put on the table."
The pound was higher, with GBP/USD up 0.16% to 1.5385.
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 0.60% to 121.43 and with USD/CHF climbing 0.54% to 0.9505.
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 stronger, with AUD/USD up 0.44% to 0.7459, off Wednesday's six-year lows of 0.7368 and with NZD/USD rising 0.30% to 0.6748.
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%.
USD/CAD dropped 0.56% to trade at 1.2671 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.