Investing.com - The dollar pared gains against the other major currencies on Thursday, after the release of disappointing U.S. jobless claims data, but the greenback remained within close distance of a 14-month peak amid ongoing expectations for an early hike in U.S. interest rates.
The U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending September 6 increased by 11,000 to a 10-week high of 315,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 304,000.
Analysts had expected jobless claims to fall by 4,000 to 300,000 last week.
USD/JPY pulled away from six year highs of 107.16 hit earlier in the session and was last down 0.12% at 106.73 as the diverging monetary policy stance between the Federal Reserve and the Japanese central bank continued to pressure the yen lower.
A study by the San Francisco Fed published on Monday indicated that Fed officials see rates rising earlier than markets expect.
The Fed is expected to cut its asset purchase program by another $10 billion next Wednesday, which would keep it on track for winding up the program in October, and to start raising interest rates sometime in mid-2015.
The yen also remained under pressure after after Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said earlier Thursday that the central bank would be prepared to immediately loosen monetary policy or implement other measures if its 2% inflation target becomes difficult to meet.
The euro held above 14-month lows against the dollar, with EUR/USD up 0.24% at 1.2947.
Sentiment on the euro remained vulnerable after the European Central Bank unexpectedly cut rates to record lows across the euro zone last week and unveiled new easing measures in a bid to shore up the faltering recovery and boost inflation.
GBP/USD edged up 0.18% to 1.6238, after a new opinion poll on Scottish independence on Wednesday showed that support for the no campaign was back in the lead with 53% of voters.
Uncertainty over what currency an independent Scotland would use, as well as concerns over how much of the U.K. national debt it would take on have sparked a broad based selloff in sterling in the past week.
USD/CHF eased back from one-year highs and slid 0.30% to 0.9339.
AUD/USD retreated 0.45% to 0.9117 even as data showed that Australia's economy added more jobs than expected last month and that the unemployment rate ticked down to 6.1%.
NZD/USD held steady near seven-month lows at 0.8194 after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand held its benchmark interest rate at 3.50% and signaled that borrowing costs will remain on hold for a longer period of time.
The bank also lowered its inflation forecasts said it expects a further depreciation in the kiwi.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD climbed 0.64% to 1.1006.
The US Dollar Index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, slipped 0.13% to 84.27, not far from Tuesday's 14-month peak of 84.65.