2021.10.1420:46:00UTC+00Dollar Extends Slide Against Major Rivals

The U.S. dollar lost ground against its major rivals on Thursday, extending recent weakness, as traders continued to bet on hopes about a steady global economic recovery from the pandemic.

Investors continued to react to the Federal Reserve's minutes of its latest policy meeting. The data on Chinese inflation, and U.S. producer price index and jobless claims data were in focus as well.

The minutes from the Fed's September policy meeting signaled that the central bank could begin reducing asset purchases in either mid-November or mid-December.

The Labor Department released a report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits dropped below 300,000 for the first time in well over a year in the week ended October 9th.

The report said initial jobless claims fell to 293,000, a decrease of 36,000 from the previous week's revised level of 329,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to edge down to 319,000 from the 326,000 originally reported for the previous week.

The Labor Department also released a separate report showing U.S. producer prices increased by slightly less than expected in the month of September.

The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand rose by 0.5% in September after climbing by 0.7% in August. Economists had been expecting producer prices to increase by 0.6%.

Core producer prices, which exclude prices for food, energy and trade services, inched up by 0.1% in September after rising by 0.3% in August. Core prices were expected to climb by 0.4%.

Compared to the same month a year ago, producer prices surged by 8.6% in September compared to an 8.3% spike in August.

The dollar index, which fell to 93.76 in the European session, regained much of the lost ground as the session progressed, and is currently at 93.98, down 0.1% from the previous session.

Against the Euro, the dollar recovered to 1.1584 from a low of 1.1626 before paring gains. It is down marginally at 1.1599.

The Pound Sterling firmed against the dollar, fetching to $1.3735 in the European session. It later pared gains and was up 0.1% at $1.3674.

The Yen weakened to 113.67 a dollar, down nearly 0.4% from the previous close.

Against the Aussie, the dollar weakened to 0.7419 from 0.7378.

The Swiss franc is up marginally at 0.9235 a dollar, compared to 0.9240 a dollar Wednesday evening. Data from the Federal Statistical Office showed Switzerland's producer and import prices increased in September, rising by 4.5% year-on-year. The producer price index increased 2.9% annually in September and import prices accelerated 8.1%.

The Loonie has firmed to 1.2373 a dollar, rising from 1.2445. Manufacturing sales in Canada rose 0.5% from a month earlier to C$ 60.3 billion in August of 2021, following a downwardly revised 1.2% decline in July and in line with preliminary estimates.