Dollar broadly lower after U.S. data, euro zone watched

Forexpros - The U.S. dollar was broadly lower against its major counterparts on Thursday, as investors eyed developments in the euro zone, while U.S. data showing that jobless claims fell to an almost four-year low last week boosted risk appetite.

During European afternoon trade, the dollar was slightly lower against the euro, with EUR/USD easing up 0.09% to hit 1.3271.

The euro remained supported by expectations that the Greek government would reach a deal on austerity measures required to secure a second bailout ahead of a meeting of euro zone finance ministers later in the day.

Following talks on Wednesday, Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos said political leaders had reached an agreement in principle, but the issue of proposed pension cuts remained unresolved.

The euro was largely unchanged after the European Central Bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a record-low 1.0% for the second consecutive month earlier, in line with market expectations.

Investors were eyeing comments from ECB head Mario Draghi at the bank’s post-policy meeting press conference, amid speculation over a possible rate cut next month.  

The greenback was also lower against the pound, with GBP/USD rising 0.26% to hit 1.5859.

The Bank of England increased its quantitative easing program by GBP50 billion earlier, citing the "significant margin" of slack in the British economy and left interest rates unchanged at 0.5% in a widely expected decision.

The greenback was higher against yen but dipped against the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY adding 0.37% to hit 77.32 and USD/CHF inching down 0.03% to hit 0.9124.

A report earlier showed that Switzerland's consumer climate index improved slightly more-than-expected in January.

Elsewhere, the greenback was lower against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD slipping 0.10% to hit 0.9949, AUD/USD easing down 0.03% to hit 1.0794 and NZD/USD inching down 0.04% to hit 0.8348.

The New Zealand dollar came under pressure earlier in the session after official data showed that the number of people employed rose 0.1% to 2.221 million in the fourth quarter, missing expectations for a 0.4% increase.

However, the data showed that the unemployment rate fell to a 21-month low of 6.3% on a sharp rise in the number of part-time workers.

The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, dipped 0.07% to hit 78.67.

Earlier Thursday, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits last week fell by 15,000 to a seasonally adjusted 358,000, beating expectations for a decline to 370,000.

The previous week’s figure was revised up to 373,000 from 367,000.

Jobless claims have remained below 400,000, a level historically associated with an improving labor market, in 13 of the past 15 weeks.