Investing.com - The dollar was lower against the euro and the yen on Thursday as investors looked ahead to a report on U.S. retail sales later in the trading day, amid concerns over the outlook for the U.S. economic recovery.
USD/JPY hit 101.96, the lowest since February 7 and was last down 0.45% to 102.05.
Investors were looking ahead to the retail report, amid concerns that sales slumped in January after a 0.2% rise in December. Recent weak jobs reports have raised concerns over whether the U.S. recovery has lost momentum since the end of last year.
The euro rebounded against the dollar, with EUR/USD up 0.62% to 1.3675, recovering from Wednesday’s lows of 1.3561.
The common currency weakened across the board on Wednesday after European Central Bank Executive Board member Benoit Coeure said in an interview with Reuters that the bank is considering a negative deposit rate very seriously.
The pound rose to three-week highs against the dollar, with GBP/USD climbing 0.33% to 1.6649.
Demand for sterling continued to be underpinned after the Bank of England revised up its forecast for growth this year on Wednesday and indicated that it may raise rates as soon as next year.
The dollar was sharply lower against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF falling 0.81% to 0.8933.
Elsewhere, the Australian dollar posted steep losses, with AUD/USD down 0.80% to 0.8956, in the wake of an unexpectedly weak domestic jobs report.
Official data on Thursday showed that Australia’s unemployment rate unexpectedly rose to 6.0% in January from 5.8% in the previous month, compared to expectations for an unchanged reading. The economy shed 3,700 jobs last month, confounding expectations for jobs growth of 15,000.
The New Zealand dollar was fractionally higher, with NZD/USD inching up 0.07% to 0.8325.
The U.S. dollar was also lower against the Canadian dollar, with USD/CAD down 0.18% to 1.0987.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.50% to 80.35.
