By Deborah Levine and Kim Hjelmgaard, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — The dollar turned slightly positive Thursday after a report showed U.S. unemployment claims unexpectedly fell in the latest week, adding to reports showing the U.S. economy is improving, in contrast to many regions in the world.
The euro had been higher through most of the Asian and European sessions, trying to recoup losses from the prior day as traders, analysts, and politicians reconsidered the impact of the European Central Bank’s lending program.
The euro EURUSD -0.06% turned down to $1.3029, edging back from $1.3050 before the data and $1.3049 in late North American trade Wednesday.
The dollar index DXY +0.04% , a measure of the greenback’s performance against six major currencies, rose to 80.121, versus 79.982 prior to the reports and from 79.999 late Wednesday.
The dollar edged up after the U.S. Labor Department said jobless claims unexpectedly fell to 364,000 in the latest week. See story on jobless claims.
A separate report showed third-quarter growth was revised down to 1.8%.
The European currency had lost ground Wednesday, after more European banks than expected asked to borrow from the ECB’s three-year long-term refinancing operation (LTRO), raising concerns about banks and how they’ll use the loans. Read about euro, ECB on Wednesday.
“Choppy conditions likely reflect market uncertainty about the efficacy of the LTRO,” currency strategists at Brown Brothers Harriman wrote in a note. “While liquidity helps the banking system, underlying solvency and debt issues have not been addressed by the ECB’s actions and so further euro-zone tensions should reappear soon.”
Analysts also noted the recirculation of rumors about a ratings downgrade of France.
Among other major currencies, the British pound GBPUSD -0.04% slipped to $1.5662, from $1.5679 Wednesday.
The Australian dollar AUDUSD +0.17% appreciated to $1.0105 from $1.008.
The Japanese yen turned down slightly, with the dollar USDJPY +0.12% buying ÂĄ78.17, up from ÂĄ78.10 late in the prior session.
Deborah Levine is a MarketWatch reporter, based in New York.
Kim Hjelmgaard is a MarketWatch editor based in London. Michael Kitchen in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
