The dollar inched up against major currencies on Thursday as risk aversion increased slightly in foreign exchange trading.
A better-than-expected profit report from JPMorgan Chase sparked fresh hopes that U.S. financial industry is stabilizing. The bank said on Thursday it earned 2.1 billion U.S. dollars in the first quarter, higher than analysts' forecast. But it was offset by weak economic data released by the government.
The U.S. Labor Department reported that new claims for jobless benefits fell by 8 percent last week to 610,000. It was much better than analysts' estimate of 658,000. But the total number of people receiver jobless benefits rose above 6 million for the first time, a record high since records began in 1967.
U.S. new house starts declined to an annualized rate of 510,000 units, 10.8 percent lower than the previous month, the Commerce Department said. Numbers of building permits, an indicator for housing activity in the next few months, fell by 9 percent.
Market sentiment was also hurt by a report showing that China's economic growth rate in the first quarter was its lowest level in 10 years. China's economy expanded by 6.1 percent year on year in the first quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics of China said on Thursday. It indicated that the global financial crisis continued to affect the world's fastest-growing economy.
The euro bought 1.3171 dollars in late New York trading compared with 1.3191 dollars it bought late Wednesday. The pound dipped to 1.4924 dollars from 1.4961 dollars.
The dollar rose to 1.2101 Canadian dollars from 1.2072 Canadian dollars, and rose to 1.1474 Swiss francs from 1.1441 Swiss francs. It rose to 99.33 Japanese yen from 99.20 Japanese yen.
Source: Xinhua
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