The dollar is hovering around the unchanged level against its major competitors on Thursday. There has been little news to drive the direction of trading today, with the exception of a pair of economic reports, which have had little impact. Investors continue to watch for a number of important economic reports that were delayed by the government shutdown, which will continue to be released next week.
With the value of imports and exports showing little change in the month of August, the Commerce Department released a report on Thursday showing that the U.S. trade deficit for the month widened only slightly.
The report said the trade deficit ticked up to $38.8 billion in August from a revised $38.6 billion in July. Economists had expected the deficit to widen to $40.0 billion from the $39.1 billion originally reported for the previous month.
First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell by less than expected in the week ended October 19th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday, although the data continued to be distorted.
The report said initial jobless claims dropped to 350,000, a decrease of 12,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 362,000. Economists had expected claims to fall to 340,000 from the 358,000 originally reported for the previous week.
The dollar hit a new 23-month low of $1.3824 against the Euro on Thursday, but has mostly hovered around the $1.3800 level.
Although an indicator of private sector performance in the euro area signaled expansion for the fourth straight month in October, the unexpected decline in the reading mirrors an uneven and fragile recovery.
Due to a slowdown in the expansion of the service sector, the flash composite Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 51.5 from 52.2 in September, preliminary survey results of a survey by Markit Economics showed Thursday. The score was expected to rise to 52.4.
Germany's private sector economy expanded at the slowest pace in three months during October, as the slowdown in services growth offset an improvement in manufacturing, preliminary data from a survey by Markit Economics showed on Thursday. The flash composite output index dropped to a three-month low of 52.6 from 53.2 in September.
The French private sector output was stable at the start of the fourth quarter, flash survey results from Markit Economics showed Thursday. The flash composite output index came in at 50.1 in October, close to the neutral 50-mark. It dropped from a score of 50.5 seen in September.
The greenback climbed to a high of $1.6137 against the pound sterling Thursday, but has since pulled back to around $1.6170, nearly unchanged for the session.
Optimism among U.K. manufacturers improved at the fastest rate since April 2010 as orders and output continued to grow steadily in the three months to October, survey data from the Confederation of British Industry showed Thursday.
According to Industrial Trends Survey, around 32 percent of businesses said they were more optimistic about the general business situation than three months ago and 8 percent less, giving a balance of +24 percent, the highest since April 2010.
The Japanese government on Thursday left its economic assessment unchanged, but downgraded its view on exports. In its monthly economic report released on Thursday, the government said the Japanese economy is on the way to recover at a moderate pace.
However, downgrading its assessment of exports, the government said exports are "almost flat". In September, it noted that the pickup in exports moderated. The government still sees downside risk to the Japanese economy from overseas economies.
The buck briefly climbed to around Y97.606 against the Japanese Yen Thursday morning, but has mostly continued to hover around the Y97.350 level.
