Forex Pros – The U.S. dollar was broadly lower against its major counterparts on Thursday, as comments by the European Central Bank president boosted the euro while weak U.S. jobless claims data added to fears over faltering U.S. growth. During early U.S. trade, the greenback was sharply lower against the euro, with EUR/USD advancing 0.86% to hit 1.4451. The euro strengthened broadly after ECB head Jean-Claude Trichet said Europe should consider strengthening central control of economic policy if efforts to deal with its debt crisis do not deliver results. But the greenback inched higher against the pound, with GBP\/USD dipping 0.03% to hit 1.6331. Data released earlier showed that construction sector activity in the U.K. rose more-than-expected in May. Meanwhile, the greenback was down against the yen but up against the Swiss franc with USD\/JPY slipping 0.06% to hit 80.89 and USD\/CHF inching up 0.07% to hit 0.8425. Earlier in the day, Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan survived a no-confidence vote, by offering to resign once the country’s worst crisis since World War II is under control. Elsewhere, the greenback was slightly higher against its Canadian and New Zealand counterparts but lower against its Australian cousin, with USD\/CAD rising 0.12% to hit 0.9783, NZD\/USD dipping 0.02% to hit 0.8144 and AUD\/USD rising 0.33% to hit 1.0649. Earlier Thursday, official data showed that Australian retail sales rose by the most in 17 months in April, as the economy recovered from its worst quarterly contraction in two decades. The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.54%. The U.S. Labor Department said earlier that the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week fell less-than-expected, declining to a seasonally adjusted 422,000. Analysts had expected jobless claims to fall by to 420,000. Also Thursday, U.S. government data showed that factory orders slumped more-than-expected in April.

Source