U.S. Dollar Mixed Ahead Of Economic Reports
The U.S. dollar showed mixed trading against other majors during Thursday’s European deals. While the dollar recouped from a new multi-month low against the yen, the dollar pared its Asian session’s gains versus the franc, the euro and the pound.
The U.S. weekly jobless claims report for the week ended February 27 is slated for release at 8:30 am ET. At the same time, the fourth quarter final report on non-farm productivity and unit labor costs are scheduled for release.
Traders will also look forward to the reports on factory goods orders and pending home sales for January- both due at 10:00 am ET.
During European deals on Thursday, the dollar pared its Asian session’s gains versus the Swiss franc. Moving down from a high of 1.0735 hit at 2:50 am ET, the dollar slipped to 1.0703 at 6:00 am ET. As of now, the greenback-franc pair is worth 1.0711, compared to yesterday’s close of 1.0680.
The dollar slipped to 1.5094 against the British currency at 6:05 am ET, from a high of 1.5025 registered at 3:00 am ET. Currently, the pound-greenback pair is trading at 1.5085, compared to 1.5101 hit at yesterday’s New York session close.
The BoE is scheduled to announce its interest rate decision at 7:00 am ET. Analysts predict the bank to keep the rate unchanged at 0.5% and to keep on hold its GBP 200 billion asset purchase programme as they did in February.
The U.S. dollar that climbed to 1.3635 at against the euro at 2:50 am ET failed to sustain momentum thereafter and touched 1.3682 at 6:05 am ET. Presently, the euro-greenback pair is trading at 1.3677. This level may be compared to previous day’s close of 1.3699.
The European Central Bank is also due to announce its interest rate decision today at 7:45 am ET. The rate-setting body, led by President Jean-Claude Trichet is widely expected to hold the key interest rate at a record low of 1% for a tenth consecutive month.
The preliminary Euro-zone GDP report for the fourth quarter, which was released at 5:00 am ET likely influenced the euro.
The dollar reached 88.44 against its Japanese counterpart at 6:05 am ET, rising from a new multi-month low of 88.15 hit at 1:40 am ET. The greenback-yen pair is now trading near yesterday’s close of 88.45.
