NEW YORK — The dollar slipped against the euro and the pound Thursday as big companies posted strong earnings results and jobless claims dropped. In late trading Thursday, the 16-nation euro edged up to $1.4147 from $1.4127 late Wednesday, while the British pound rose to $1.6453 from $1.6423. The dollar slid to 93.74 Japanese yen from 94.39 yen. Optimism about an economic recovery tends to weigh on the dollar. It boosts investors’ appetite for riskier investments, leading them to funnel money out of cash and government debt and into emerging markets and stocks. Internet search company Google Inc. said Thursday its second-quarter profit rose 19 percent amid slowing ad sales, while computer maker International Business Machines Corp.’s earnings blew past forecasts. Chip maker Intel Corp. also reported stronger-than-expected earnings and guidance this week. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reported a 36 percent jump in second-quarter profits Thursday, easily surpassing analysts’ forecasts as huge gains in its investment banking business outweighed higher losses from bad loans. Meanwhile, the Labor Department said new applications for unemployment insurance dropped by a seasonally adjusted 47,000 to 522,000, the lowest level since early January. Still, the government figures were clouded by difficulties adjusting for temporary shutdowns at auto plants. In other late trading Thursday, the dollar inched up to 1.0735 Swiss francs from 1.0733 francs late Thursday, and rose to 1.1178 Canadian dollars from 1.1126.

Source