US dollar is up against the euro today, gaining ground after the jobless claims report. While the report missed expectations by a little bit, the general trend is still toward economic recovery, and the rising dollar index reflects that today.
The latest weekly jobless claims data is in, and initial claims fell by 2,000, dropping to a seasonally adjusted 312,000. Expectations had been to drop to 310,000, though. Even though this news has had a somewhat negative affect on the US stock market, the US dollar is holding its own against the euro and the dollar index is higher.
Greenback is mixed against its major counterparts, but mostly higher overall. The trend toward lower jobless claims and other positive economic moves has some hoping for the Federal Reserve to raise rates. Indeed, there are some calls for the Fed to focus more on inflation, and less on the jobs market at this point.
Also helping the dollar right now against the euro is the fact that gold prices and oil prices are falling.
At 13:52 GMT the US dollar index is higher, gaining to 80.2840 from the open at 80.2140. EUR/USD is lower, falling to 1.3589 from the open at 1.3629. GBP/USD is higher, moving up to 1.7009 from the open at 1.6984. USD/JPY is down to 101.5480 from the open at 101.8655.
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