Investing.com - The dollar remained broadly lower against the other major currencies on Thursday, after the release of disappointing U.S. jobless claims data and as the Federal Reserve’s decision to leave its monetary policy unchanged continued to weigh on the greenback.
The U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending July 23 increased by 14,000 to 266,000 from the previous week’s total of 252,000, which was revised from the initial read of 253,000.
Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by 7,000 to 260,000 last week.
The data came a day after the Fed left interest rates unchanged at the conclusion of its two-day policy meeting, in a widely expected move.
In its monthly policy statement, the Fed said that “near-term risks to the economic outlook have diminished” and that the labor market has “strengthened”.
The upbeat outlook fuelled speculation over a rate hike by the U.S. central bank before the end of the year.
EUR/USD gained 0.31% to a two-week high of 1.1095.
Data earlier showed that the number of unemployed people in Germany declined by 7,000 in July, compared to expectations for a 3,000 drop and after a 6,000 slide the previous month.
Germany’s unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6.1% this month, in line with expectations.
A separate report showed that Spain’s unemployment rate ticked down to 20.00% in the second quarter from 21.00% in the previous quarter, compared to expectations for a slip to 20.40%.
The pound pushed lower, with GBP/USD down 0.55% at 1.3152.
Meanwhile, USD/JPYdropped 0.58% to trade at 104.79, while USD/CHF slid 0.39% to 0.9821.
The yen regained some ground amid growing uncertainty over whether the Bank of Japan will introduce fresh stimulus measures at its policy meeting this Friday.
The yen had weakened on Wednesday following reports Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his government will compile a stimulus package of nearly 28 trillion yen, or $265.3 billion, to prop up Japan's flagging economy. That would be bigger than earlier reports of a possible headline figure of around 20 trillion yen.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were stronger, with AUD/USD up 0.49% at 0.7528 and with NZD/USD adding 0.16% to 0.7086.
Elsewhere, USD/CAD slipped 0.24% to 1.3154, the lowest since July 22.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.24% at 96.52, the lowest level since July 15.