Investing.com - The U.S. dollar traded lower against most of its major rivals during Friday’s Asian session as traders looked to capitalize on Thursday’s market ebullience by embracing riskier fare.
In Asian trading Friday, EUR/USD inched higher by 0.04% to 1.3072 after the European Central Bank on Thursday pared its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 0.50%. Additionally, ECB President Mario Draghi left the door open to further monetary easing.
Draghi also said the ECB may charge banks to hold excess reserves sent the euro dropping and made gold an attractive hedge. That would translate to negative interest rates, something few nations have experimented with in the past, perhaps boosting the allure of gold in the process.
USD/JPY traded slightly higher by 0.06% to 98.02 as the dollar cut a small bid against the yen on the back of an impressive weekly jobless claims report out of the U.S.
In U.S. economic news, initial claims for jobless benefits fell by 18,000 to 334,000 last week. That is good for a five-year low. Analysts expected a reading of 345,000 claims. The U.S. Labor Department delivers the April jobs report Friday before the open of U.S. markets and economists are expecting the addition of 145,000 new jobs. The U.S. unemployment rate is currently 7.6%.
GBP/USD inched up 0.02% to 1.5538 while USD/CHF traded slightly lower by 0.04% to 0.9347.
USD/CAD nudged down 0.02% to 1.0104 after Statistics Canada said that Canada’ trade deficit was flat in March, narrowing from a deficit of CAD1.2 billion in February. Analysts had expected Canada’s trade deficit to narrow to CAD0.7 billion.
Official data showed that the U.S. trade deficit narrowed by 11% to USD38.8 billion in March compared to a USD43.6 billion deficit in February, as imports fell sharply.
AUD/USD climbed 0.18% to 1.0269 while NZD/USD jumped 0.31% to 0.8522. The U.S. Dollar Index inched lower by 0.03% to 82.25.
In Asian trading Friday, EUR/USD inched higher by 0.04% to 1.3072 after the European Central Bank on Thursday pared its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 0.50%. Additionally, ECB President Mario Draghi left the door open to further monetary easing.
Draghi also said the ECB may charge banks to hold excess reserves sent the euro dropping and made gold an attractive hedge. That would translate to negative interest rates, something few nations have experimented with in the past, perhaps boosting the allure of gold in the process.
USD/JPY traded slightly higher by 0.06% to 98.02 as the dollar cut a small bid against the yen on the back of an impressive weekly jobless claims report out of the U.S.
In U.S. economic news, initial claims for jobless benefits fell by 18,000 to 334,000 last week. That is good for a five-year low. Analysts expected a reading of 345,000 claims. The U.S. Labor Department delivers the April jobs report Friday before the open of U.S. markets and economists are expecting the addition of 145,000 new jobs. The U.S. unemployment rate is currently 7.6%.
GBP/USD inched up 0.02% to 1.5538 while USD/CHF traded slightly lower by 0.04% to 0.9347.
USD/CAD nudged down 0.02% to 1.0104 after Statistics Canada said that Canada’ trade deficit was flat in March, narrowing from a deficit of CAD1.2 billion in February. Analysts had expected Canada’s trade deficit to narrow to CAD0.7 billion.
Official data showed that the U.S. trade deficit narrowed by 11% to USD38.8 billion in March compared to a USD43.6 billion deficit in February, as imports fell sharply.
AUD/USD climbed 0.18% to 1.0269 while NZD/USD jumped 0.31% to 0.8522. The U.S. Dollar Index inched lower by 0.03% to 82.25.