Forexpros – The U.S. dollar traded mixed against its major counterparts Friday, as a large trading loss at JP Morgan Chase sent investors into the safety of the greenback but Greek political progress helped firm the Euro.
During U.S. morning trade, the dollar was lower against the euro, with EUR/USD gaining 0.08% to hit 1.2946.
Firming the greenback, JP Morgan Chase & Co reported a USD2 billion trading loss resulting in investors seeking the safety of the U.S. dollar.
The euro found support as Antonis Samaras, leader of Greece’s New Democracy Party, reported that the four rival parties have accepted terms of no exit from the euro region..
On Wednesday, Alexis Tsipras, the head of Greece’s second-biggest party Syriza, gave up his attempt to form a new government, pushing the debt-stricken country closer to its second election in a few weeks.
In the U.S., the Department of Labor said earlier that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending May 5 fell to 367,000, defying expectations for an increase of 1,000 to 369,000.
The previous week’s figure was revised up to 368,000 from 365,000.
Meanwhile, a separate report indicted the U.S. trade deficit widened to USD51.8 billion in March from deficit of USD45.4 billion in February.
Analysts had expected the U.S. trade deficit to widen to USD50.0 billion.
Data also indicated that import prices in the U.S. fell more-than-expected in April, declining 0.5% after a 1.5% the previous month. Analysts had expected import prices to fall 0.1% in April. The greenback traded higher against the pound, with GBP/USD adding 0.26% to hit 1.6191.
The greenback edged higher against the yen, with USD/JPY falling 0.22% to hit 79.94 but traded lower against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF falling 0.09% to hit 0.9277.
On Thursday, government data indicated that the rate of unemployment in Switzerland was 3.1% in April.
A separate report showed that Swiss consumer price inflation rose less-than-expected last month, adding 0.1%, against expectations for a 0.2% increase.
Elsewhere, the minutes of the Bank of Japan’s April policy meeting reported that the economy was showing signs of improvement but a high degree of uncertainty regarding the global outlook remained.
The greenback higher against its Canadian and Australian yet lower against its New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD gaining 0.20% to hit 1.0041, AUD/USD falling 0.26% to hit 1.0055 and NZD/USD adding 0.03% to hit 0.7856.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.06%, at 80.32.
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