Forex - Greenback plunges on strong U.S. data

Investing.com - The U.S. dollar traded sharply lower against its rivals Thursday, after official data indicated U.S. initial jobless claims fell to their lowest level since February 2008 last week.

During U.S. afternoon trade, the greenback moved lower against the euro with the EUR/USD adding 0.42%

The U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits last week fell by 30,000 to a seasonally adjusted 339,000, compared to expectations for an increase of 1,000 to 370,000.

The previous week’s figure was revised up to 369,000 from a previously reported 367,000.

A separate report showed that the U.S. trade deficit widened to USD44.2 billion in August, broadly in line with market expectations, as imports outpaced exports.

Earlier Thursday, the minutes of the Bank of Japan’s September meeting indicated that some policymakers were leaning towards more aggressive easing measures, boosting expectations that the central bank may ease policy again later this month.

The BoJ increased the size of its asset purchase program by JPY10 trillion last month.


The euro remained supported amid hopes that a ratings downgrade on Spain by Standard & Poor’s would force Madrid to formally request a bailout, which investors hope will ease the debt crisis in the euro zone.

Elsewhere, the greenback was lower against the pound and the Swiss franc, with GBP/USD climbing 0.26% to 78.50 and USD/CHF down 0.50% to 0.9344.

The greenback extended losses against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD falling 0.54% to 0.9764, AUD/USDclimbing 0.51% to 1.0286 and NZD/USD up 0.31% to 0.8188.

In Canada, official data showed that the trade deficit narrowed to CAD1.3 billion in August, compared to expectations for a deficit of CAD2.0 billion.

The Australian dollar remained supported after official data showed that the country’s economy added 14,500 jobs in September, easily beating expectations for an increase of 3,800. 

The country’s unemployment rate ticked up to 5.4% in September, against expectations for an increase to 5.3%, from 5.1% in August.

The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.16% to 79.87.