• The U.S. dollar tumbled from three-week highs on Wednesday, as minutes of the latest Federal Reserve meeting suggested the outlook for interest rates had not changed from what the Fed indicated last month after its rate hike decision.
The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. currency against a basket of six peers, fell 0.1 percent at 100.45, after hitting a three-week high of 100.850 overnight on an upbeat U.S. ADP private sector employment report.
• The dollar rose on Thursday, with gains limited ahead of a two-day summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping that could have geopolitical ramifications, and Friday's U.S. jobs report.
The dollar index is above 100.72 in this morning, after up 0.1 percent at 100.69 in the late trading day. The greenback also rose 0.1 percent versus the Japanese yen at 110.80 JPY=,
The euro fell 0.2 percent to 1.0646 EUR=, after dropping to a three-week low following European Central Bank President Mario Draghi's comments saying he saw no need, for now, to deviate from the ECB's policy path.
• U.S. companies added 263,000 workers in March, the most since December 2014, suggesting further tightening of the labor market, payrolls processor ADP said on Wednesday.
Strong job gains in the coming months will likely add upward pressure on wages, supporting the Federal Reserve's view for at least two more interest rate increases by the end of 2017.
• Initial claims for state unemployment benefits declined 25,000 to a seasonally adjusted 234,000 for the week ended April 1, the Labor Department said on Thursday. The drop was the largest since the week ending April 25, 2015, and unwound recent increases that had lifted claims to a three-month high.
However, claims have now been below 300,000, a threshold associated with a healthy labor market, for 109 straight weeks. That is the longest such stretch since 1970, when the labor market was smaller. The labor market is currently near full employment.
• Oil prices rose by 1 percent on Thursday, posting a fourth straight day of gains, but analysts remained cautious about record-high U.S. crude inventories.
Brent crude futures settled up 53 cents, or 1 percent, at $54.89 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 1.1 percent, or 55 cents a barrel, to $51.70.
Reference: Reuters
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