The U.S. dollar rose against most major currencies on Thursday as the euro fell amid comments from European officials.
U.S. stocks fell sharply on Thursday as investors worried about the non-farm job data to be released on Friday. But the dollar gained strength from dovish comments about the euro.
The European Central Bank (ECB) kept its key rate unchanged on Thursday, in line with expectations. ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said the bank remains focused on fighting inflation. However, the euro was under pressure as ECB lowered its economic growth forecast.
Jean-Claude Juncker, chairman of the Eurogroup, the key economic policy-making body of the euro zone, said the euro is still effectively overvalued despite its recent fall against the dollar. The euro is still on the strong side despite its weakening against the dollar, an International Monetary Fund spokesman said.
The dollar was also helped by oil prices, which fell amid a lower-than-expected drop in U.S. gasoline supplies. Light, sweet crude for October delivery fell 1.46 dollars to settle at 107.89 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The euro bought 1.4331 dollars in late New York trading compared with 1.4493 dollars it bought late Wednesday. The British pound fell to 1.7690 dollars from 1.7759 dollars.
The dollar rose to 1.1088 Swiss francs from 1.1058 Swiss francs, and fell to 107.04 Japanese yen from 108.23 Japanese yen. It rose to 1.0673 Canadian dollars from 1.0610 Canadian dollars.
Source: Xinhua
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