FX round-up: Dollar rises after better-than-expected employment data
The dollar rose against most of its major rival currencies on Thursday after US unemployment claims fell to a five-week low.
According to the US Department of Labor, the number of people filing for initial jobless benefits for the week ending 21 March dropped 9,000 to 282,000 from the previous week. Consensus expectations had predicted a decline of just 1,000.
The EUR/USD fell 0.27% to $1.0940 while the dollar index, which measures the US currency against a basket of six others, advanced 0.22% to $97.29.
IG analyst Alastair McCaig said: “EUR/USD has also seen renewed enthusiasm from currency traders, as it has half-heartedly tried to convince sceptics that this is anything more than a decent bounce in an otherwise bearish trajectory.”
The USD/JPY decreased 0.38% to 119.01 while the GBP/USD eased 0.09% 1.4868.