Investing.com - The dollar continued to advance against most major currencies on Thursday after the Federal Reserve said it was trimming its USD85 billion monthly bond-buying program by USD10 billion next month, though lackluster economic indicators watered down the greenback's gains.
Fed asset purchases, in place for 15 months now, have weakened the dollar by depressing interest rates to spur on economic recovery.
In U.S. trading on Thursday, EUR/USD was down 0.23% at 1.3655.
On Wednesday, the Fed announced that it would reduce its USD85 billion-a-month bond-buying program by USD10 billion in January, while outgoing Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the economy was continuing to improve.
Fed bond purchases tend to weaken the dollar by driving down long-term interest rates that send investors to assets like stocks to encourage investing and hiring.
The U.S. central bank reiterated that interest rates are likely to remain low even after the unemployment rate drops below 6.5%, the threshold at which the Fed has previously said it would start to consider rate increases.
Meanwhile, less-than-stellar economic indicators in the U.S. watered down the greenback's gains.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said that its manufacturing index jumped to 7.0 for December from November’s 6.5 reading, though analysts were expecting the index to rise to 10.0 this month.
A separate report showed that U.S. existing home sales declined 4.3% to a seasonally adjusted 4.90 million units in November from 5.12 million in October. Analysts were expecting U.S. existing home sales to fall 1.5% to 5.03 million units last month.
Also on Thursday, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending Dec. 14 increased by 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 379,000, the highest level since March.
Analysts were expecting U.S. jobless claims to fall to 334,000 last week from the previous week’s revised total of 369,000.
Elsewhere, the greenback was up against the pound, with GBP/USD down 0.11% at 1.6373.
In the U.K., the Office for National Statistics reported earlier that retail sales increased by 0.3% last month, matching forecasts.
Retail sales were 2% higher on a year-over-year basis, the ONS said, undershooting expectations for a 2.3% gain, after rising at an annual rate of 1.8% in October.
Demand for the pound still remained supported after data on Wednesday showed that the U.K. unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to a four-and-a-half year low of 7.4% in the three months to October, fueling hopes that the Bank of England will raise interest rates ahead of other central banks.
The dollar was down against the yen, with USD/JPY down 0.11% at 104.18, and up against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF up 0.50% at 0.8984.
The dollar was mixed against its cousins in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with USD/CAD down 0.32% at 1.0663, AUD/USD down 0.04% at 0.8856 and NZD/USD trading down 0.65% at 0.8184.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.22% at 80.80.
On Friday, the U.S. is to round up the week with revised data on third-quarter GDP.
Fed asset purchases, in place for 15 months now, have weakened the dollar by depressing interest rates to spur on economic recovery.
In U.S. trading on Thursday, EUR/USD was down 0.23% at 1.3655.
On Wednesday, the Fed announced that it would reduce its USD85 billion-a-month bond-buying program by USD10 billion in January, while outgoing Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the economy was continuing to improve.
Fed bond purchases tend to weaken the dollar by driving down long-term interest rates that send investors to assets like stocks to encourage investing and hiring.
The U.S. central bank reiterated that interest rates are likely to remain low even after the unemployment rate drops below 6.5%, the threshold at which the Fed has previously said it would start to consider rate increases.
Meanwhile, less-than-stellar economic indicators in the U.S. watered down the greenback's gains.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said that its manufacturing index jumped to 7.0 for December from November’s 6.5 reading, though analysts were expecting the index to rise to 10.0 this month.
A separate report showed that U.S. existing home sales declined 4.3% to a seasonally adjusted 4.90 million units in November from 5.12 million in October. Analysts were expecting U.S. existing home sales to fall 1.5% to 5.03 million units last month.
Also on Thursday, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending Dec. 14 increased by 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 379,000, the highest level since March.
Analysts were expecting U.S. jobless claims to fall to 334,000 last week from the previous week’s revised total of 369,000.
Elsewhere, the greenback was up against the pound, with GBP/USD down 0.11% at 1.6373.
In the U.K., the Office for National Statistics reported earlier that retail sales increased by 0.3% last month, matching forecasts.
Retail sales were 2% higher on a year-over-year basis, the ONS said, undershooting expectations for a 2.3% gain, after rising at an annual rate of 1.8% in October.
Demand for the pound still remained supported after data on Wednesday showed that the U.K. unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to a four-and-a-half year low of 7.4% in the three months to October, fueling hopes that the Bank of England will raise interest rates ahead of other central banks.
The dollar was down against the yen, with USD/JPY down 0.11% at 104.18, and up against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF up 0.50% at 0.8984.
The dollar was mixed against its cousins in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with USD/CAD down 0.32% at 1.0663, AUD/USD down 0.04% at 0.8856 and NZD/USD trading down 0.65% at 0.8184.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.22% at 80.80.
On Friday, the U.S. is to round up the week with revised data on third-quarter GDP.