Dollar Uncertain Against Other Major Currencies, Thursday, June 21, 2007 3:14:59 PM

The U.S. dollar was little changed against the other majors on Thursday in New York. The greenback was very close to its overnight levels against the euro, sterling and yen in the mid-afternoon. Traders considered the Department of Labor`s report that showed jobless claims unexpectedly increased compared to the previous week and also the afternoon`s release of the Philadelphia Fed Index, which showed that the pace of growth in the sector accelerated much more than expected.

The U.S. dollar was up slightly against the euro amid choppy trading on Thursday in New York. The greenback gained sharply at around 3 a.m. ET and remained near that level for several hours. The dollar declined, however, at around 8 a.m. to give up those gains. The buck edged higher in afternoon trading, following the release of the Philadelphia Fed Index. The pair traded at 1.3385 at 2:45 p.m. ET. Trading took place following the release of data showing that German construction orders rose 0.5 percent annually in April.

The dollar saw uncertain trading against the sterling on Thursday in New York. The greenback got as low as 1.9938 at 2:45 a.m. and rebounded to climb as high as 1.9895 about three hours later. The greenback slipped over the next two hours to return close to the daily low again. It edged higher in the mid-morning and then settled into a range. The buck traded at 1.9921 at 3 p.m. ET, slightly below its overnight levels.

The U.S. dollar was choppy with the Japanese yen on Thursday in New York and traded near its overnight levels in the mid-afternoon. The dollar climbed to as high as 123.75 at 3:15 a.m. ET and got as low as 123.50 at 9:45 a.m. It moved higher until about 2 p.m. ET. It cooled slightly from there and the pair traded at 123.69 at 3 p.m. ET. Traders considered data showing Japan`s trade surplus was up for the seventh straight month, but at a much slower pace than analysts expected.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia released its report on business activity in the mid-Atlantic region`s manufacturing sector in the month of June on Thursday, showing that the pace of growth in the sector accelerated much more than expected. The report showed that the general business activity index surged up to 18.0 in June from 4.2 in May, with a positive reading indicating growth in the sector. Economists had expected a more modest increase to a reading of about 8.0. Thursday morning, the Department of Labor released its report on initial jobless claims in the week ended June 16, showing that jobless claims rose to 324,000 from the previous week`s revised figure of 314,000. Economists had been expecting claims to edge down to 310,000 from the 311,000 originally reported for the previous week.



Japan`s trade surplus marked its seventh straight month of growth in May, though the pace was slower than what was anticipated by analysts, the government data indicated Thursday. According to a preliminary report from the Ministry of Finance, trade surplus rose 9.3% from the previous year to 389.5 billion yen in May. This came lower than the expected surplus of 540.0 billion yen for the month. The report said that the surplus with the US dropped 12.9% from last year to 543.7 billion yen, as growth in exports to the US continued to be sluggish.

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