The dollar was little changed on Thursday after broad weakness in the previous session.
A slew of economic data included some relatively good news from the U.S. jobs front, as initial jobless claims fell to the lowest since May 2007.
Dismal Chinese export figures and a significant drop in U.S. stock prices boosted the dollar’s perceived value as a safe haven.
Still, there was scarcely any upside for the dollar after minutes of the Federal Reserve’s March meeting showed policy makers remain dovish on interest rates.
The buck eased slightly versus the euro, holding near $1.3880 for most the day. Technical support was seen as the dollar near a 2 1/2-year low set back in March.
There was little movement against the sterling after the Bank of England left the size of its bond-buying program unchanged and held its key lending rate at a record low of 0.5%.
The dollar held near $1.68, unchanged from yesterday’s close.
The yen, also favored as a safe haven, extended its recent gains against the dollar. The pair was below Y102 at last check.
In economic news, a report from the Labor Department showed that U.S. weekly jobless claims dropped to a nearly seven-year low.
Initial jobless claims dropped to 300,000 in the week ended April 5th, a decrease of 32,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 332,000.
Chinese exports fell 6.6% from a year earlier in March, missing forecasts for a 4.2% gain. Chinese Premier Li said the government won’t take any short-term stimulus measures to give the economy a boost.
Apple now has Rhapsody as an app, which is a great start, but it is currently hampered by the inability to store locally on your iPod, and has a dismal 64kbps bit rate. If this changes, then it will somewhat negate this advantage for the Zune, but the 10 songs per month will still be a big plus in Zune Pass’ favor.
Sorry for the huge review, but I’m really loving the new Zune, and hope this, as well as the excellent reviews some other people have written, will help you decide if it’s the right choice for you.
Hands down, Apple’s app store wins by a mile. It’s a huge selection of all sorts of apps vs a rather sad selection of a handful for Zune. Microsoft has plans, especially in the realm of games, but I’m not sure I’d want to bet on the future if this aspect is important to you. The iPod is a much better choice in that case.
This website is amazing. I will tell about it to my friends and anybody that could be interested in this subject. Great work guys!
This website is amazing. I will tell about it to my friends and anybody that could be interested in this subject. Great work guys!
hey there, just wanted to tell you that the feed on your site is broken. I was trying to add it to my rss list but it couldn’t work. I had a similar issue on my blog, it wouldn’t work a week and then somehow it just worked! I guess these issues fix thereself sometimes, lol. but I thought to inform you. Take care!.
The new Zune browser is surprisingly good, but not as good as the iPod’s. It works well, but isn’t as fast as Safari, and has a clunkier interface. If you occasionally plan on using the web browser that’s not an issue, but if you’re planning to browse the web alot from your PMP then the iPod’s larger screen and better browser may be important.
This website is amazing. I will tell about it to my friends and anybody that could be interested in this subject. Great work guys!
The Zune concentrates on being a Portable Media Player. Not a web browser. Not a game machine. Maybe in the future it’ll do even better in those areas, but for now it’s a fantastic way to organize and listen to your music and videos, and is without peer in that regard. The iPod’s strengths are its web browsing and apps. If those sound more compelling, perhaps it is your best choice.
Hands down, Apple’s app store wins by a mile. It’s a huge selection of all sorts of apps vs a rather sad selection of a handful for Zune. Microsoft has plans, especially in the realm of games, but I’m not sure I’d want to bet on the future if this aspect is important to you. The iPod is a much better choice in that case.