Investing.com - The dollar hit session highs against the euro on Thursday, as sentiment on the single currency was hit by worries that political deadlock in Italy would stoke fresh concerns over the euro zone debt crisis.
During European late morning trade, the dollar was higher against the euro, with EUR/USD down 0.20% to 1.3109.
The euro remained under pressure after inconclusive Italian elections fueled fears that the country would not be able to continue to implement economic reforms, which could destabilize sovereign debt markets in the euro zone.
In Germany, official data showed that the number of people unemployed fell by 3,000 to 2.9 million in February, slightly below expectations for a decline of 5,000, while the unemployment rate held steady at 6.9%.
A separate report showed that consumer inflation in the euro zone held steady at 2% in January, in line with initial estimates.
Elsewhere, the dollar edged lower against the yen, with USD/JPY dipping 0.09% to 92.14.
The yen was little changed earlier after Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe nominated Asian Development Bank President Haruhiko Kuroda to be the next governor of the Bank of Japan.
Mr. Kuroda, a proponent of aggressive monetary easing, will replace current BOJ Governor Masaaki Shirakawa, whose policies Prime Minister Abe has criticized for not doing enough to combat deflation.
The greenback eased back from 31-month highs against the pound, with GBP/USD rising 0.21% to 1.5188 and edged higher against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF up 0.11% to 0.9307.
In Switzerland, official data showed that the economy expanded by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, defying expectations for a contraction of 0.3%.
The greenback was broadly lower against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD gaining 0.12% to 1.0242, AUD/USD rising 0.23% to 1.0257 and NZD/USD climbing 0.41% to 0.8310.
The New Zealand dollar was boosted after the ANZ business confidence index improved to 39.4 in February, from a reading of 22.7 the previous month.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, edged up 0.10% to 81.69.
The U.S. was to release revised data on fourth quarter growth and the weekly report on initial jobless claims later in the trading day.
