Investing.com - The dollar pared losses against the other major currencies on Wednesday, easing off a three-week trough after data showed that the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. fell more than expected last week.
The dollar was steady against the yen, with USD/JPY at 119.93.
The Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending October 3 fell by 13,000 to 263,000 from the previous week’s downwardly revised total of 276,000.
Market participants were now eyeing the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting, due later in the day, for further indications on the central bank's next policy moves.
Meanwhile, the yen remained under pressure amid expectations that the Bank of Japan could ease monetary policy as soon as its October meeting.
The BoJ kept monetary policy unchanged at its policy meeting on Wednesday but recent economic reports pointing to weakness in Japan’s economy have added to pressure on the bank to ramp up measures to bolster growth.
Data earlier on Thursday showed that Japan’s machinery orders unexpectedly fell in August, pointing to weakness in capital spending.
The dollar was also steady against the euro, with EUR/USD at 1.1244.
Elsewhere, the dollar turned higher against the pound, with GBP/USD sliding 0.29% to 1.5272 and remained lower against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF down 0.18% to 0.9719.
The Bank of England said on Thursday that it was holding the benchmark interest rate at 0.50%, in a widely expected move. The rate has been held at that level since March 2009.
The central bank also said it was to maintain the stock of asset purchases financed by the issuance of central bank reserves at £375 billion.
According to the minutes, the path interest rates will follow over the next few years will depend on economic circumstances.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were weaker, with AUD/USD down 0.43% to 0.7176 and with NZD/USD shedding 0.27% to 0.6593.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD eased up 0.09% to trade at 1.3070.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 95.70, off three-week lows of 95.17 hit earlier in the session.