The U.S. dollar traded mixed against major currencies in late New York trading on Thursday as U. S. job data came in disappointed and European debt problems worried investors and hurt the euro.
The U.S. Labor Department said that new applications for U.S. unemployment compensation last week rose 5,000 to 417,000. The weak job data hurt U.S. stock markets and lifted the dollar which is regarded as traditional safe-haven currency.
Investors still focused on the upcoming central bank annual meeting this Friday. The dollar gained as many investors anticipated no third round of quantitative easing policy announced in this meeting. the dollar index advanced 0.33 percent to 74.25.
Meanwhile, the European debt problems again caught investors' attention. The yield of Greek 2-year notes topped 43 percent during Thursday's session, up from an already sky-high 20 percent not that long ago, as investors worried that the country's sovereign debt default risk is mounting.
In late Thursday trading, the dollar bought 77.55 yen, comparing with 77.01 yen late Wednesday, and the euro fell to 1. 4368 dollars from 1.4421.
The British pound also fell to 1.6281 dollars from 1.6374. The dollar fell from 0.7947 Swiss francs to 0.7939, and also fell to 0. 9882 Canadian dollars from 0.9883.
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