The dollar is turning in a mixed performance against its major rivals Thursday afternoon, after paring its early gains. The buck is holding onto small gains against its major European rivals, but has turned negative in comparison to the Japanese Yen.
The minutes from the Fed's July meeting showed that officials were more worried about inflation, with the members divided over the timing of a future interest rate hike amid inflation risks.
The minutes indicated that some members want to be "patient" on raising interest rates on caution about "the recent decline in inflation" and said the Fed "could afford to be patient under current circumstances."
Many senior officials saw a greater likelihood that "inflation might remain below 2% for longer than they currently expected" and risks to the inflation outlook could be tilted to the downside.
Those members argue that the Fed may hold off its next rate hike "until incoming information confirmed that the recent low readings on inflation were not likely to persist."
First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell by more than anticipated in the week ended August 12th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday. The report said initial jobless claims dropped to 232,000, a decrease of 12,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 244,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to edge down to 240,000.
Manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia-area saw a slightly slower rate of growth in the month of August, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia revealed in a report on Thursday.
The report said the Philly Fed Index edged down to 18.9 in August from 19.5 in July, although a positive reading still indicates growth in regional manufacturing activity. The index has been expected to dip to 18.5.
A report released by the Federal Reserve on Thursday showed industrial production in the U.S. rose by slightly less than expected in the month of July. The report said industrial production edged up by 0.2 percent in July after climbing by 0.4 percent in June. Economists had expected production to rise by 0.3 percent.
Suggesting the U.S. economy may experience further improvements in activity in the second half of the year, the Conference Board released a report on Thursday showing that its index of leading economic indicators rose in line with estimates in July.
The Conference Board said its leading economic index increased by 0.3 percent in July after climbing by 0.6 percent in June.
The dollar climbed to an early high of $1.1660 against the Euro Thursday, but has since retreated to around $1.1745.
The euro area trade surplus increased to a 6-month high in June as the pace of decrease in imports was bigger than the fall in exports, Eurostat reported Thursday. The trade surplus rose to a seasonally adjusted EUR 22.3 billion from EUR 19 billion in May. This was the highest surplus seen so far this year.
Eurozone inflation remained stable as initially estimated in July, final data from Eurostat showed Thursday. Inflation in the currency bloc held steady at 1.3 percent in July. The rate came in line with the flash estimate published on July 31.
France's unemployment rate dropped in the second quarter to the lowest since late 2011, data from the statistical office Insee showed Thursday. The unemployment rate fell to 9.5 percent, in line with expectations, from 9.6 percent in the first quarter. This was the lowest rate since the fourth quarter of 2011, when it was 9.3 percent.
The buck rose to a high of $1.2851 against the pound sterling Thursday morning, but has since slipped back to around $1.2875.
UK retail sales grew more-than-expected in July as food store sales increased the most in nearly two years. The retail sales volume grew 0.3 percent month-on-month in July, the same rate as logged in June, data from the Office for National Statistics revealed Thursday.
This was the second consecutive monthly growth. Sales were expected to rise at a slower pace of 0.2 percent after June's initially estimated 0.6 percent increase.
The greenback reached an early high of Y110.368 against the Japanese Yen Thursday, but has since eased back to around Y109.715.
Japan posted a merchandise trade surplus of 418.8 billion yen in July, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday, down 17.0 percent on year. The headline figure topped forecasts for a surplus of 327.1 billion yen but was down from 439.8 billion yen in June.
