Investing.com - The dollar pushed higher against other major currencies on Thursday, helped by the release of upbeat U.S. jobs data and as investors were now eyeing Friday’s highly anticipated nonfarm payrolls report.
EUR/USD slid 0.34% to 1.1205.
Payroll processing firm ADP said non-farm private employment rose by 253,000 in May, above forecasts for an increase of 185,000.
The economy created 174,000 jobs in April, whose figure was revised down from a previously reported increase of 177,000.
However, The Department of Labor said initial jobless claims rose by 13,000 in the week ending May 26 to 248,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 235,000. Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by 4,000 to 239,000 last week.
But the greenback’s gains were limited by ongoing fears investigations into President Donald Trump's ties with Russia could hamper his administration's progress on promised stimulus measures.
The Trump administration is under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and several congressional panels over alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and potential collusion with the Trump campaign.
GBP/USD was down 0.33% at 1.2847. Research group Markit earlier said its U.K. manufacturing purchasing managers’ index fell to56.7 last month from a reading of 57.3 in April. Analysts had expected the PMI to decline to 56.5.
But sentiment on the pound remained vulnerable after the latest YouGov poll released on Wednesday showed that Theresa May's Conservative Party is only 3 percentage points in front of the opposition Labour Party ahead of the June 8 election.
USD/JPY gained 0.57% to 111.41, while USD/CHF rose 0.38% to trade at 0.9715.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were weaker, with AUD/USD down 0.67% at 0.7380 and with NZD/USD shedding 0.31% to 0.7061.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that retail sales increased by 1.0% in April, beating expectations for a 0.3% rise.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD held steady at 1.3505.
Elsewhere, data showed that manufacturing activity in China swung into contraction territory for the first time since July 2016. The Caixin PMI fell to 49.6 in May from 50.3 the previous month, confounding expectations for a downtick to 50.1.
The weak data added to concerns over a slowdown in the world’s second biggest economy.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.35% at 97.24, pulling away from Wednesday’s one-week low of 96.80.