By Yasin Ebrahim
Invesing.com – The U.K. and EU are slated to get trade talks underway only in March, but tough rhetoric from both sides has raised fears that rough negotiations lie ahead, keeping the pound on the back foot against the dollar on Thursday.
GBP/USD fell 0.58% $1.2926.
The dollar was also helped by better-than-expected labor market data, underpinning investor hopes for a robust nonfarm payrolls report due Friday.
The U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday that initial jobless claims dropped by 15,000 to a seasonally adjusted 202,000, beating economists' forecast for a drop to 215,000.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose by 0.21% to 98.36.
The yen, meanwhile, continued to lose altitude against the greenback as easing coronavirus fears and China's move to halve tariffs on U.S. goods dented safe-haven demand.
China said it would halve tariffs on $75 billion of U.S. imports as part of its efforts to comply with the phase one agreement that was ratified in Washington last month.
USD/JPY rose 0.10% to Y109.92.
EUR/USD fell 0.20% to $1.0975 as European Central Bank Governor Christine Lagarde reinforced expectations that the central bank's ultra-loose monetary measures will remain in place at least until the year.
"Moderate growth performance is delaying the pass-through from wage increases to prices and inflation developments remain subdued," Largarde said. "The euro area economy therefore continues to require support from our monetary policy."
USD/CAD rose 0.08% to C$1.3292