Forex - U.S. dollar mixed as risk on sentiment increases

Investing.com - The U.S. dollar traded mixed against its counterparts, Thursday, giving up ground against the euro and the yen as markets steadied following this week’s strong gains by the greenback. 
  
During U.S. afternoon trade, the dollar was lower against the euro, with EUR/USD gaining 0.53% striking 1.3102. 
  
Supporting the greenback, the Department of Labor said number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week fell back to a four-year low of 351,000, beating expectations for a decline to 356,000. 
  
Separate reports showed that manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia region expanded at a faster than forecast rate in March, rising to the highest level in 11 months, while manufacturing activity in New York improved unexpectedly, climbing to the highest level since June 2010. 
  
The data underlined the view that the U.S. economic recovery is gaining traction, after the Federal Reserve upgraded its outlook on the economy earlier this week, causing investors to reduce  expectations for a third round of quantitative easing. 
  
The greenback was lower against the pound, with GBP/USD gaining 0.31% to trade at 1.5723. 
  
Sentiment on sterling was lowered after ratings agency Fitch placed the U.K.’s triple-A credit rating on negative outlook late Wednesday, warning that there is a slightly greater than 50% chance of a downgrade in the next two years, if the government eases back on implementing harsh austerity measures. 
  
The greenback was lower against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF falling 1.02% to hit 0.9211. 
  
The Swiss franc found support after the Swiss National Bank kept its minimum exchange rate floor of 1.20 per euro unchanged, following its monetary policy meeting earlier. 
  
The greenback pulled back from an 11-month high against the yen, with USD/JPY dropping 0.45% to hit 83.34. 
  
The yen has come under pressure since last month’s surprise decision by the Bank of Japan to ease monetary policy and set a targeted inflation rate, while the country’s increasing trade deficit has threatened the yen’s traditional safe haven status. 
  
Earlier this week, the BoJ held off announcing any fresh easing measures following its policy meeting, but enlarged a loan fund for businesses in “high-growth” sectors, signaling that the central bank has not moved away from an easing policy. 
  
Elsewhere, the greenback was mixed against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand cousins, with USD/CAD rising 0.16% to hit 0.9940,AUD/USD climbing 0.62% to hit 1.0516 and NZD/USD rallying 1.07% to hit 0.8179. 
  
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.63% to hit 80.46. 
  
In addition Thursday, government data indicated that U.S. producer price inflation rose slightly less-than-expected in February, increasing by a seasonally adjusted 0.4%, below expectations for a 0.5% gain, while core producer prices rose 0.2% last month, meeting analyst's estimates.