Investing.com - The dollar trimmed gains against other major currencies in subdued trade on Thursday, as investors remained cautious ahead of a U.S.-China summit scheduled later in the day.
EUR/USD held steady at 1.0659, just off a three-week low of 1.0629.
The U.S. Department of Labor earlier reported that initial jobless claims decreased by 25,000 to 234,000 in the week ending April 1 from the previous week’s revised total of 259,000.
Analysts had expected jobless claims to drop by 8,000 to 250,000 last week.
But investors remained cautious ahead of the summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping later Thursday, which will include discussions on U.S.-China trade and security issues, including North Korea’s arms program.
Trump has repeatedly criticized China's economic policies and pledged to label China a currency manipulator on the first day of his administration, but so far he has not.
At the same time, sentiment on the euro was fragile after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said on Thursday that the bank is not planning to reassess its current monetary policy of low interest rates and bond buying.
Draghi reiterated that the current monetary policy stance was still appropriate and the bank needed to see more signs that inflation was approaching its target before making any policy changes.
Elsewhere, GBP/USD was little changed at 1.2491.
USD/JPY rose 0.15% to 110.88, while USD/CHF slipped 0.14% to 1.0035.
The Australian dollar remained weaker, with AUD/USD down 0.24% at 0.7553, while NZD/USD edged up 0.16% to 0.6977.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD fell 0.19% to trade at 1.3408.
In Canada, official data showed that building permits declined 2.5% in February after an increase of 5.8% in January, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 5.4% gain.
But the commodity-related loonie remained supported by rising oil prices on Thursday, as the market weighed rising U.S. drilling and record stockpiles against efforts by major producers to cut output to reduce a global glut.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 100.48, not far from Wednesday’s three-week high of 100.99.