2021.09.0920:51:00UTC+00Dollar Drifts Lower Against Major Rivals

The U.S. dollar traded weak against most of its major rivals on Thursday despite data showing a bigger than expected drop in jobless claims in the week ended September 4th.

The report from Labor Department said initial jobless claims fell to 310,000, a decrease of 35,000 from the previous week's revised level of 345,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to edge down to 335,000 from the 340,000 originally reported for the previous week.

With the bigger than expected decrease, jobless claims once again dropped to their lowest level since hitting 256,000 in the week ended March 14, 2020.

Traders also reacted to the European Central Bank's monetary policy statement. The ECB today left its key interest rate, the main refinancing rate, unchanged at zero, the deposit rate at -0.50% and the marginal lending rate at 0.25%, in line with economists' expectations.

The ECB said it will slow the pace of its emergency asset purchases, which were launched last year to support the economy amid the Covid-19 crisis, as policymakers worry higher inflation may last long.

The dollar index, which drifted down to 92.38 in early afternoon trades, recovered some lost ground subsequently and was last seen at 92.52, down 0.13% from the previous close.

Against the Euro, the dollar weakened to 1.1840 before recovering some lost ground. It is currently at 1.1824 against the Euro, netting a marginal loss.

The Pound Sterling firmed against the dollar, fetching $1.3837 a unit, compared to Wednesday's close of $1.3770.

The Yen strengthened to 109.73 a dollar, from 110.27.

Against the Aussie, the dollar is at 0.7367, little changed from the previous close of 0.7365.

The Swiss franc is at 0.9166 a dollar, gaining from 0.9222, while the Loonie is stronger by about 0.25% against the dollar at C$1.2662.