Investing.com - The dollar remained lower against other major currencies on Thursday, despite the release of upbeat U.S. jobless claims data, as markets were still digesting the Bank of England’s earlier policy decision, as well as the Federal Reserve’s statement released on Wednesday.
EUR/USD was up 0.33% at 1.0805, just off an eight-week high of 1.0819 hit overnight.
The U.S. Department of Labor said initial jobless claims decreased by 14,000 in the week ending January 28 to 246,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 260,000.
Analysts had expected jobless claims to drop by 9,000 to 250,000 last week.
The data came after the Fed left interest rates unchanged at the end of its two-day policy meeting on Wednesday, in a widely expected move.
The greenback weakened as optimism over the strength of the U.S. economy waned after poliymakers said that some market-based measures of inflation were still low.
However, the Fed also said that job creations remained solid, inflation had increased and economic confidence was rising.
The pound erased earlier gains, as GBP/USD retreated 0.87% to trade at 1.2553, pulling away from a seven-week high of 1.2706 hit earlier in the session.
Sterling was hit after the Bank of England raised its forecasts for growth and inflation, but indicated that it is comfortable with record low interest rates.
In addition, the BoE’s monetary policy committee voted 9-0 to keep rates on hold at 0.25% on Thursday, in line with forecasts.
Earlier Thursday, market research firm Markit and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply said their U.K. construction purchasing managers' index dropped to 52.2 last month from December’s reading of 54.2.
Economists had expected the index to slip to 53.8 in January.
USD/JPY tumbled 0.90% to 112.20, not far from Tuesday’s two-month lows of 112.04, while USD/CHF dropped 0.50% to trade at 0.9882.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars pushed higher, with AUD/USD up 1.33% at a nearly three-month high of 0.7691 and with NZD/USD advancing 0.71% to 0.7331.
The Aussie was bossted after data earlier showed that Australia’s trade surplus widened to A$3.511 billion in December from a revised A$2.040 billion in November. Analysts had expected the trade surplus to hit A$2.200 billion in December.
A separate report showed that Australia’s building approvals declined by 1.2% in December, compared to expectations for a 2.0% drop.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD declined 0.45% to trade at 1.2990, close to Tuesday’s four-month trough of 1.2967.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.36% at 99.33, the lowest level since November 14.