Forexpros – The U.S. dollar rose to a fresh session high against the yen on Thursday, after official data showed that the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week fell by the most since May 2011.
USD/JPY hit 80.52 during European afternoon trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 80.47, gaining 0.41%
The pair was likely to find support at 80.03, Wednesday’s low and short-term resistance at 80.60, Wednesday’s high.
The Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending April 28 fell by 27,000 to a seasonally adjusted 365,000, beating expectations for a decline to 380,000.
The previous week’s figure was revised up to 392,000 from 388,000.
Meanwhile, investors were eyeing a press conference by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, after the bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 1%, in a widely expected decision.
Earlier Thursday, an auction of Spanish government debt met with solid investor demand but saw the country’s short-term borrowing costs rise sharply.
Spain sold the full targeted amount of EUR2.5 billion of government bonds in its first debt sale since being downgraded by Standard & Poor’s, but the yield on the country’s five-year bonds rose to 4.96% from 3.69%, while the yield on three-year bonds climbed to 4.03% from 2.61%.
The dollar was little changed against the euro, with EUR/USD dipping 0.03% to hit 1.3152.
Later in the day, the Institute of Supply Management was to produce a report on U.S. service sector growth.
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