Investing.com - The dollar erased losses against the other majors currencies on Thursday, helped by the release of upbeat U.S. economic reports, although investors remained cautious ahead of Donald Trumps inauguration as U.S. President on Friday.
EUR/USD was steady at 1.0635, off session highs of 1.0677 after the European Central Bank ECB left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a record-low 0.0%, in line with forecasts, and kept the size of its monthly quantitative easing program at approximately €80 billion.
In the U.S., the Department of Labor said initial jobless claims in the week ending January 14 fell by 15,000 to 234,000 from the previous week’s total of 249,000. Analysts expected jobless claims to rise by 5,000 to 254,000 last week.
In addition, the U.S. Commerce Department said housing starts increased by 11.3% to 1.226 million units last month, beating expectations for a rise to 1.200 million units.
However, building permits unexpectedly decreased by 0.2% to 1.210 million units in December.
A separate report showed that the Philly Fed manufacturing index rose to 23.6 last month from 21.5 in November, compared to expectations for a rise to 15.8.
Elsewhere, GBP/USD rose 0.29% to 1.2295.
The pound remained supported since British Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed on Tuesday that Britain will be leaving the single market when it exits the European Union, but would seek maximum access to it through a new trade agreement.
May also said the final Brexit deal will be put to parliament for a vote.
USD/JPY added 0.28% to 114.99, while USD/CHF gained 0.25% to trade at 1.0100.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars remained higher, with AUD/USD up 0.59% at 0.7553 and with NZD/USD advancing 0.72% to 0.7174.
Earlier Thursday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said the number of employed people rose by 13,500 in December, beating expectations for an increase of 10,000.
The number of employed people climbed 37,100 in November, down from a previously estimated gain of 39,100.
However, the report also showed that Australia’s unemployment rate ticked up to 5.8% in December from 5.7% in November. Analysts had expected an unchanged reading in December.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD edged up 0.13% to trade at 1.3290, the highest since January 11.
Statistics Canada reported on Thursday that manufacturing sales increased 1.5% in November, exceeding expectations for a 1.0% gain. Manufacturing sales slipped 0.6% in October, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 0.8% fall.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.10% at 101.43, the highest since Tuesday and after hitting lows of 100.95 earlier in the session.