The dollar leveled off from recent gains against European rivals on Thursday, as traders continued to weigh yesterday’s remarks from the Federal Reserve.
The Fed maintained its current monetary policy and offered a mixed assessment of the labor market despite a significant drop in the U.S. unemployment rate this year.
Meanwhile, first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rebounded in the week ended July 26th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday.
Initial jobless claims bounced off the fourteen-year low seen in the previous week, climbing to 302,000, an increase of 23,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 279,000.
The dollar failed to build on 8-month highs versus the euro even though Euro zone inflation fell more than expected in July, according to new figures released today.
Also from Europe, German retail sales rose 1.3 percent in June after falling for three consecutive months, provisional data from Destatis showed.
The country’s jobless rate remained steady at 6.7 percent in July, unchanged for a fourth month, while the number of unemployed fell by 12,000 after rising in May and June.
The dollar held at $1.3380 versus the euro, and was at a 6-week high of $1.6880 against the sterling. Choppy trading left the dollar at Y102.88 versus the yen, at the upper end of a stubborn range.