The dollar's rise, however, was tempered as traders were cautious ahead of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration on Friday.
The greenback was little changed at 114.670 yen. The U.S. currency rallied nearly 2 percent the previous day, when it pulled ahead from a seven-week low of 112.570 and snapped a seven-day losing streak.
• While ECB President Mario Draghi may sound slightly hawkish at tomorrow’s press conference after an unexpectedly strong acceleration in CPI in December and European economic growth modestly picking up, the ECB is set to argue on Thursday that its extra-easy policy stance is still needed to keep the recovery on course. As a result, it is all but certain to leave current monetary policy in place and maintain a promise for lengthy stimulus, having extended its bond-buying program just last month coupled with the tapering (just don't call it a taper) of its bond purchases this year.
• China is willing to work with the new U.S. administration to promote healthy China-U.S. ties, the commerce ministry said on Thursday in Beijing.
The Ministry of Commerce said it believes China and the United States can properly resolve any trade problems through dialogue and cooperation, as both sides would be hurt in any U.S.-China trade spat.
• U.S. oil on Thursday moved away from one-week lows touched the session before, with investors turning their attention to upcoming government data on U.S. inventories.
Data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) showed U.S. crude stocks fell by 5.04 million barrels in the week to Jan. 13. Analysts had expected a decrease of 342,000 barrels.
The international benchmark for oil prices, Brent crude rose 51 cents, or 0.95 percent to $54.43 a barrel by 0321GMT after closing down 2.8 percent in the last session.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude oil was trading up 46 cents at $51.54 per barrel, having dropped to a one-week low on Wednesday at $50.91 a barrel.
Reference: Reuters
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