Forex - U.S. dollar mostly flat despite weak economic data

Investing.com - The U.S. dollar traded mixed against its major counterparts Thursday despite weaker than expected U.S. economic data

In U.S. afternoon trade, the dollar traded flat against the euro, with EUR/USD easing higher by 0.01% to hit 1.3124.

Sentiment on the greenback was lowered as official data indicated that manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia-region expanded at a slower rate than expected in April, while an industry report showed that U.S. existing home sales declined unexpectedly last month.

A government report indicated that the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week fell less-than-expected, while the previous week’s figure was revised higher.

The Department of Labor stated the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending April 14 fell by 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 386,000, disappointing expectations for a decline of 18,000 to 370,000.

The previous week’s figure was revised up to 388,000 from 380,000.

The euro fell to the session low against the greenback earlier, as concerns over Spain’s fiscal problems weighed, despite initial relief following an auction of Spanish government bonds.

Spain raised slightly more than the full targeted amount of EUR2.5 billion, while the yield on the country’s 10-year bonds climbed, but remained below the 6% level.

The increase long term borrowing costs reflected investor concerns that that Spain’s government may struggle to reduce one of the largest deficits in the euro zone in the face of a looming recession.

The greenback was trading close to a five-month low against the pound, with GBP/USD rising 0.24% to hit 1.6060.

The pound strengthened against all of its major counterparts after Wednesday’s minutes of the Bank of England’s April meeting dampened expectations for more monetary easing from the central bank.

Elsewhere, the greenback was higher against the broadly weaker yen, with USD/JPY adding 0.36% to hit 81.53, but slipped lower against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF losing 0.17% to hit 0.9142.

The yen was pressured lower by ongoing expectations for further easing measures by the Bank of Japan, after the central bank's governor reaffirmed a commitment to monetary easing in order to meet Japan’s targeted rate of inflation.

Meanwhile, official data showed that Japan’s trade deficit widened more-than-expected in March, climbing to JPY0.62 trillion from a deficit of JPY0.32 trillion the previous month.

Economists had expected the trade deficit to widen to JPY0.44 trillion last month.

The greenback was higher against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD gaining 0.14% to hit 0.9924, AUD/USD sliding 0.18% to hit 1.0337 and NZD/USD dipping 0.06% to hit 0.8154.

The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was unchanged at 79.72.