Forex

– The dollar traded lower against most major currencies on Thursday amid ongoing uncertainty as to when the Federal Reserve will officially announce plans to taper monetary stimulus programs.
Monetary stimulus programs such as monthly asset purchases push down long-term borrowing costs to spur recovery, weakening the greenback in the process.
In U. S. trading on Thursday, EUR/USD was up 0. 36% at 1. 3384.
Senior Federal Reserve officials said earlier this week they would not rule out making a decision to taper stimulus measures at the bank’s September meeting, though soft data out of the U. S. in recent weeks have many betting such a decision will come in December.
Elsewhere, the Labor Department said earlier Thursday the number of individuals filing for initial jobless claims in the U. S. rose by 5,000 to 333,000, better than market calls for a rise of 8,000, though concerns that the Fed will not provide any weather vanes on policy until September still allowed the greenback to soften.
Meanwhile, the pound continued to see support on Bank of England language.
BoE Governor Mark Carney said the bank plans to keep interest rates on hold at 0. 5% until the U. K. unemployment rate falls to 7% from its current level of 7. 8%, though he said the rate is a threshold and not a target, adding the 7% figure could be set aside if low bank rates begin to pose a threat to financial stability or if inflationary pressures rise.
The greenback was down against the pound, with GBP/USD up 0. 31% at 1. 5537.
The pound also saw support after the Office for National Statistics said Tuesday that U. K. manufacturing production jumped by 1. 9% in June, blowing past expectations for a 0. 9% increase.
The ONS added industrial production rose by 1. 1% in June, beating expectations for a 0. 6% increase after posting a flat reading in May.
Earlier this week, London-based Markit Economics reported that the U. K. services purchasing managers’ index rose to 60. 2 from 56. 9 in June, well above economists’ expectations for a reading of 57. 2.
The dollar was up against the yen, with USD/JPY up 0. 35% at 96. 69, and down against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF trading down 0. 18% at 0. 9202.
The dollar was down against its cousins in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with USD/CAD down 0. 94% at 1. 0326, AUD/USD up 1. 26% at 0. 9114 and NZD/USD trading up 0. 61% at 0. 8019.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0. 27% at – offers an extensive set of professional tools for the financial markets.
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