Investing.com - The dollar weakened against most major currencies on Thursday after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen told U.S. legislators monetary authorities were concerned over soft economic indicators though monetary policy remains on course for now.
Disappointing weekly jobless claims numbers softened the greenback as well.
In U.S. trading on Thursday, EUR/USD was up 0.19% at 1.3713.
Recent manufacturing, jobs and other economic indicators have disappointed markets, leaving investors unclear if recovery has hit a soft patch or if a string of winter storms has put commerce temporarily on hold.
Speaking before the Senate banking committee, Yellen told lawmakers it was hard to say how much the recent soft data was due to rough winter weather and added that the bank would remain attentive to signals on whether the recovery is progressing in line with expectations.
Her comments softened the dollar by clouding expectations as to how slowly the Fed will taper its monthly bond-buying program, which weakens the greenback by suppressing long-term interest rates to spur recovery.
Also softening the dollar, weekly data revealed that the number of individuals filing for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week rose more than expected.
The Labor Department said the number of people filing for initial jobless benefits rose by 14,000 to 348,000 from the previous week’s total of 334,000. Analysts had expected an increase of just 1,000, and the numbers rekindled expectations for a very gradual tapering of Fed asset purchases.
Also on Thursday, the Commerce Department reported that U.S. durable goods orders declined by a seasonally adjusted 1% last month, less than expectations for a 1.5% drop.
Core durable goods orders, excluding volatile transportation items, rose 1.1% in January, the largest increase since May, confounding forecasts for a 0.3% decline, which gave the dollar some support.
Elsewhere, the dollar was down against the yen, with USD/JPY down 0.31% at 102.06, and down against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF down 0.28% at 0.8882.
The greenback was down against the pound, with GBP/USD up 0.08% at 1.6684.
The dollar was mixed against its cousins in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with USD/CAD up 0.13% at 1.1148, AUD/USD down 0.07% at 0.8962 and NZD/USD up 0.68% at 0.8370.
The Canadian dollar firmed after official data showed that the domestic current account deficit widened to a seasonally adjusted C$16.0 billion in the fourth quarter from a deficit of C$14.8 billion in the previous quarter.
Analysts had expected the current account deficit to widen to C$17.0 billion.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.15% at 80.31.
On Friday, the U.S. is to released revised data on fourth-quarter growth, a report on manufacturing activity in the Chicago region, revised data on consumer sentiment and private-sector data on pending home sales.