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The U.S. dollar firmed against some major currencies on Thursday, after having tumbled earlier in the session amid rising bets the Fed will likely cut interest rate in March 2024.
In economic releases today, the Labor Department's report showed initial jobless claims climbed to 218,000 in the week ended December 23rd, an increase of 12,000 from the previous week's revised level of 206,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 210,000 from the 205,000 originally reported for the previous week.
The data may have added to optimism about the likelihood of near-term interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, with CME Group's FedWatch Tool currently indicating a 72.8% chance the Fed will lower rates by a quarter point in March.
The National Association of Realtors also released a report showing pending home sales were unexpectedly unchanged in the month of November.
NAR said its pending home sales index stayed at 71.6 in November after tumbling by a revised 1.2% in October.Economists had expected pending home sales to jump by 1% compared to the 1.5% slump originally reported for the previous month.
The dollar index, which fell to 100.99 in the Asian session, recovered to 101.30 later on in the day, gaining about 0.3%.
Against the Euro, the dollar firmed to 1.1062 from 1.1107. The dollar strengthened to 1.2733 against Pound Sterling. Against the Japanese currency, the dollar weakened to 141.41 yen a unit, from 141.84 yen.
The dollar strengthened to 0.6828 against the Aussie. Against Swiss franc, the dollar firmed to CHF 0.8449, recovering from CHF 0.8332. The greenback was up marginally against the Loonie at C$ 1.3230.
