Investing.com - The dollar tuned lower against a basket of other major currencies on Thursday after data showed that the number of people filing U.S. jobless claims rose more than expected last week.
EUR/USD was up 0.23% to 1.3393, off lows of 1.3349.
The drop in the dollar came after the Labor Department reported that the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week rose by 21,000 to 311,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 290,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to increase by 5,000.
The euro’s gains were likely to be held in check after preliminary data earlier on Thursday showed the euro area economy failed to grow in the second quarter. Economists had expected a small expansion of 0.1%.
Germany’s economy shrank by 0.2% in the three month to June, the first drop since 2012, while French gross domestic product was flat, the second consecutive quarter of stagnation.
The weak data indicated that the economic recovery in the euro area is losing momentum, adding to pressure on the European Central Bank to do more to shore up growth after it cut rates to record lows in June.
Elsewhere, sterling was steady at 4-month lows, with GBP/USD at 1.6687.
The pound weakened broadly on Wednesday after the Bank of England indicated that rates may remain on hold for longer.
The dollar was little changed against the yen, with USD/JPY at 102.42, but was lower against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF down 0.36% to 0.9042.
The New Zealand dollar was close to one week highs, with NZD/USD up 0.48% to 0.8498 after official data on Thursday showed that domestic retail sales rose at a faster than expected rate in the second quarter.
AUD/USD eased up 0.12% to 0.9316, while USD/CAD dipped 0.07% to 1.0905.
The US Dollar Index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.19% to 81.51.