Forexpros – The U.S. dollar pared losses against its major counterparts on Thursday, as risk appetite was dented by ongoing concerns over the political deadlock and financial crisis in Italy.
During U.S. morning trade, the dollar was lower against the euro, with EUR/USD rising 0.31% to hit 1.3586.
The euro found support after Italy’s Treasury auctioned EUR5 billion of one-year government bonds at an average yield of 6.08%, the highest since September 1997, but still well below analyst expectations of 7%.
Following the auction, the yield on 10-year Italian bonds fell back below the 7% mark, a level widely considered unsustainable for continued borrowing.
Meanwhile, officials in Italy appeared to move closer to forming a national unity government, while in Greece former European Central Bank vice-president Lucas Papademos was named as the new interim prime minister.
But the greenback was slightly higher against the pound, with GBP/USD slipping 0.13% to hit 1.5893.
Earlier in the day, the Bank of England left interest rates unchanged at a record low of 0.5% and announced no fresh monetary easing measures.
In addition, the greenback was lower against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY shedding 0.30% to hit 77.58, and USD/CHF falling 0.25% to hit 0.9072.
In Japan, official data showed that core machinery orders declined more-than-expected in September, falling 8.2% after an 11.0% increase the previous month. Analysts had expected core machinery orders to fall 7.3% in September.
Elsewhere, the greenback was down against its Canadian counterpart but moved higher against its Australian and New Zealand cousins, with USD/CAD shedding 0.33% to hit 1.0211, AUD/USD slipping 0.32% to hit 1.0109 and NZD/USD tumbling 0.85% to hit 0.7747.
A report earlier showed that Canada posted an unexpected surplus in September, on the back of a decline in imports and a strong rise in exports.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, slipped 0.16% to hit 78.00.
Also Thursday, U.S. government data showed that that the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance last week fell to a seven-month low.
The Department of Labor said initial jobless claims for the week ending November 4 fell by 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 390,000. Analysts had expected jobless claims to hold steady at 400,000. The previous week’s figure was revised up to 400,000 from 397,000.
A separate report showed that the U.S. trade deficit narrowed unexpectedly in September, contracting to USD43.1 billion compared to a deficit of USD44.9 billion the previous month.
Analysts had expected the U.S. trade deficit to widen to USD46.2 billion.
Forexpros
