LONDON (AFP) --
The euro held firm against the dollar Thursday as the US currency's safe haven status dimmed in calm trade on a day when US markets were closed for the Thanksgiving holiday.
The single European currency in late-day trade was at 1.2879 dollars, just up from 1.2876 dollars on Wednesday in New York.
The dollar meanwhile edged higher to 95.58 yen after 95.53 on Wednesday.
Analysts said recent robust government action to bolster national economies in the face of recession, notably in the United States, the European Union and China, had reassured investors and encouraged them to move out of safe haven currencies such as the dollar and into the euro.
"Market focus has shifted from concentrating on the economic damage of the credit crunch towards the positive effects of economic support programmes," according to economists at BNP Paribas.
Derek Halpenny of Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi said a US government rescue of banking giant Citigroup earlier this week, along with an 800-billion-dollar Federal Reserve initiative to get credit flowing again, "have all clearly reduced safe-haven demand for the dollar."
But he added that "the aggressive US action in the last week may temper dollar demand but is unlikely to reverse it."
The dollar is seen as regaining investor favor in light of near-daily doses of grim economic and corporate news from around the world.
An EU survey released Thursday found that economic and business confidence in the European Union slumped in November to the lowest level in 23 years in the face of looming recession.
The European Commission's EU economic sentiment indicator tumbled to 70.5 points in November from 77.2 in October, hitting the lowest level since the survey was created in January 1985.
Meanwhile, the commission's eurozone economic sentiment indicator fell to 74.9 points in November from 80.0 points in October, dropping to its lowest level since August 1993.
Companies worldwide delivered a storm of job cuts and profit warnings.
Japanese consumer electronics giant Panasonic Corporation slashed its net profit forecast for the current financial year by 90 percent due to weak sales.
Auto makers announced more layoffs to cope with the industry slump. Mitsubishi Motors Corporation said it would cut 1,100 jobs in Japan while Subaru-maker Fuji Heavy Industries will axe 800 posts.
GM Europe boss Carl-Peter Forster wrote to staff telling them that the troubled US auto manufacturer needed to cut European costs aggressively if it was to survive as vehicle markets slump.
In the once-booming steel industry, ArcelorMittal said that it could slash up to 9,000 jobs across the group worldwide through voluntary redundancies.
In London trade on Thursday, the euro changed hands at 1.2879 dollars against 1.2876 dollars late on Wednesday, at 123.18 yen (122.03), 0.8382 pounds (0.8402) and 1.5469 Swiss francs (1.5512).
The dollar stood at 95.58 yen (95.53) and 1.1999 Swiss francs (1.2042).
The pound was at 1.5381 dollars (1.5319).
On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold rose to 814 dollars an ounce at the fixing from 812.50 dollars late on Wednesday.
