Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was higher against a basket of other currencies on Thursday after a higher than expected jobless claims report.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose 0.25% to 90.00 as of 8:43 AM ET (12:43 GMT), not far from its earlier high of 90.12.
The number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week rose more than expected, according to official data released on Thursday.
The number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits increased by 24,000 to 242,000 the Labor Department said.
Analysts had expected claims to rise to 225,000 last week.
The dollar was supported as trade tensions between the U.S. and China eased. Investors were upbeat after comments from White House chief economic advisor Larry Kudlow that there was no trade war and the two countries were merely in a “negotiation.”
Traders were also looking ahead to the latest U.S. employment report and comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Friday, which could help determine the direction of the dollar.
The dollar rose against the safe haven yen, with USD/JPY gaining 0.26% to trade at 107.06.
The euro was down, with EUR/USD falling 0.18% to 1.2255. Meanwhile GBP/USD slumped 0.40% to 1.4023.
Elsewhere, the Australian dollar decreased, with AUD/USD falling 0.36% at 0.7687, while NZD/USD inched down 0.10% to 0.7298.