Dollar Strengthens After U.S. Jobless Claims Data

23:42, 31st July 2014

(RTTNews) - The U.S. dollar firmed against its key counterparts in New York morning deals on Thursday, as the U.S. first-time jobless claims came in broadly in line with forecasts last week, confirming recovery in the U.S. labor market.

The report released by the Labor Department showed that initial jobless claims climbed to 302,000, an increase of 23,000 from the previous week's revised level of 279,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 301,000.

The previous week's revised level represents the lowest number of jobless claims since 276,000 in May of 2000.

Traders look forward to Friday's U.S. nonfarm payrolls report, with economists expecting an addition of 230,000 jobs in July.

The greenback edged up to 103.00 against the yen, from Wednesday's closing value of 102.77. Continuation of bullish trend may lead the greenback to a resistance around the 104.00 level.

After having fallen to 0.9078 against the Swiss franc at 4:50 am ET, the greenback reversed direction and rose to 0.9102. The greenback may probably find resistance around the 0.92 mark.

The greenback gained to 1.3371 against the euro, compared to yesterday's New York close of 1.3396. The greenback is poised to challenge resistance around the 1.33 region.

Eurozone inflation slowed in July to the lowest in four-and-a-half years largely due to a fall in energy prices, data showed.

Inflation slowed to 0.4 percent in July from 0.5 percent in June, flash data from Eurostat revealed. It was expected to remain unchanged at 0.5 percent.

The greenback continued its early rally against the pound, reaching a 7-week high of 1.6860. The pair was valued at 1.6911 at yesterday's close. Extension of rally may help the greenback to test resistance around the 1.68 handle.

U.K. house price growth slowed in July, falling behind expectations of economists, survey data from mortgage lender Nationwide showed.

House prices rose 10.6 percent year-over-year in July, increasing for the seventeenth straight month and followed a 11.8 percent gain in June.

The greenback spiked up to 1.0929 against the loonie, its strongest level since June 9, and near a 2-month high of 0.9278 against the aussie. Against the NZ currency, the greenback rebounded from its prior 2-day low of 0.8518 and climbed to 0.8471. The dollar may seek resistance around 1.10 against the loonie, 0.92 against the aussie and 0.84 against the kiwi.