Investing.com - The dollar pushed lower against the other majors currencies on Thursday, after the release of downbeat U.S. jobless claims data, although expectations for an upcoming U.S. rate hike still lent support to the greenback.
EUR/USD gained 0.30% to 1.0624.
The U.S. Department of Labor said that initial jobless claims in the week ending November 26 increased by 17,000 to 268,000 from the previous week’s total of 251,000. Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by just 2,000 to 253,000 last week.
Separately, the dollar paused after strengthening broadly on Wednesday when the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries reached an agreement on an oil output cut aimed at tackling global oversupply and shoring up prices.
Expectations for higher oil prices added to U.S. inflation expectations, which have already been boosted by prospects for increased fiscal spending under the Trump administration.
Elsewhere, GBP/USD rallied 1.10% to trade at 1.2643 after British Brexit Minister David Davis indicated that London would consider paying for access to European markets after Brexit.
Earlier Thursday, research group Markit said its U.K. manufacturing purchasing managers’ index fell to 53.4 last month from a reading of 54.2 in October.
Analysts had expected the index to increase to 54.5 in November.
USD/JPY slipped 0.13% to 114.30, while USD/CHF shed 0.30% to 1.0135.
The Australian dollar was stronger, with AUD/USD up 0.19% at 0.7396, while NZD/USD held steady at 0.7083.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD declined 0.36% to trade at 1.3387.
Elsewhere, official data showed on Thursday that China’s official manufacturing PMI rose to 51.7 in November from 51.2 the previous month.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.40% at 101.22, still close to recent 14-year highs of 102.12.