The U.S. dollar turned weak Thursday morning after data showing a jump in jobless claims raised the prospect of interest rate cuts this year. However, it recovered as the day progressed and even managed to gain some ground against a few of its major counterparts.
Data from the Labor Department showed that initial jobless claims climbed to 221,000 in the week ended March 30, an increase of 9,000 from the previous week\'s revised level of 212,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 214,000 from the 210,000 originally reported for the previous week.
A separate report released by the Commerce Department showed the U.S. trade deficit unexpectedly widened in the month of February.
The Commerce Department said the trade deficit increased to $68.9 billion in February from a revised $67.6 billion in January.
Economists had expected the trade deficit to narrow to $67.0 billion from the $67.4 billion originally reported for the previous month.
The dollar index, which dropped to 103.92 after jobless claims data, recovered to 104.22, down just marginally from the previous close.
The dollar edged down marginally against the Euro to 1.0836. Against Pound Sterling, the dollar gained slightly, recovering to 1.2642 after having weakened to around 1.2670.
Against the Japanese currency, the dollar weakened to 151.34 yen from 151.69. The dollar slid to 0.6589 against the Aussie, easing from 0.6564.
The Swiss franc recovered from early losses, and was at 0.9014 against the dollar, edging up from 0.9070. The Loonie weakened to 1.3544 from 1.3478.