Dollar Shows Strength In Thursday's Trading

The dollar gained against its major counterparts during Thursday morning trading in New York, but lost momentum in the afternoon. After the early advances, the dollar stabilized against the euro and the pound, while it was a little more uncertain trading with the yen. The action came as the U.S. released its weekly jobless claims mid-morning and ahead of key U.S. employment data that will come out Friday morning.After an early morning rise, the dollar saw choppy trading against the British pound. The greenback touched a daily low of 1.9353 ahead of the 7 am ET announcement from the BoE that it was retaining its interest rate. The dollar gained on the pound after the announcement, climbing to a daily high of 1.9273 shortly after 9 am ET. The pair were range bound into the late afternoon, where they traded around 1.9291.The dollar gained against the euro during Thursday morning's New York trading before settling into a range in the afternoon. The dollar rose off a daily low of 1.3178 it touched at 2:00 am ET. The dollar saw its second rise came after the European Central Bank announced it was increasing its interest rate. The advance caused the buck to rise to a daily high of 1.3128 shortly after 9:00 am ET. The pair was range bound into the late afternoon, where they traded around 1.3133.The dollar was uncertain in trading against the yen Thursday in New York. The buck rose against its Japanese counterpart during morning trading. The greenback reached 117.48 at 10:30 am ET, its highest level in 5 days. The dollar slid soon after and continued to do so as the day progressed. During the late afternoon in New York, the pair traded around 117.06.Thursday morning, the Department of Labor released its report on initial jobless claims in the week ended March 4, showing that jobless claims fell more than economists had been expecting. The report showed that initial jobless claims fell by 10,000 to 328,000 from the previous week's unrevised figure of 338,000. Economists had been expecting a much more modest decline to about 335,000.Friday morning will see the release of employment data for February. The statistics give investors an in depth look to the labor market, including numbers on unemployment data, average hourly earnings and nonfarm payrolls. The report is considered by many to the most important economic release, as it has significant import for both inflation and economic growth.