Dollar steady to higher vs. rivals ahead of U.S. data

The dollar was steady to higher against the other major currencies on Friday, as markets eyed the release of U.S. economic reports later in the day, after U.S. jobless claims data came out lower than expected on Thursday. Dollar steady to higher vs. rivals ahead of U.S. dataDollar steady to higher

against counterparts, data ahead The dollar was little changed against the euro, with EUR/USD down 0.02% to 1.3884. On Thursday, the Labor Department reported that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending April 4 fell by 30,000 to a seasonally adjusted 300,000 from the previous week’s upwardly revised total of 332,000. Analysts had expected jobless claims to decline to 320,000. Continuing jobless claims declined to 2.77 million, the lowest since January 2008. The pound was lower against the dollar, with GBP/USD slipping 0.11% to 1.6765. The dollar was little changed against the yen and the Swiss franch, with USD/JPY inching up 0.07% to 101.63 and with USD/CHF easing 0.06% to 0.8761. In the minutes of the Bank of Japan's March policy meeting, board members said "it is appropriate for the BOJ to continue to steadily pursue quantitative and qualitative monetary easing in accordance with the current guidelines." The minutes fuelled speculation that the central bank could implement additional stimulus measures in the near future, although such a possibility was not mentionned by board members at the March policy meeting. The greenback was steady to higher against the Australian, New Zealand and Canadian dollars, with AUD/USD slipping 0.21% to 0.9394, NZD/USD inching 0.01% higher to 0.8681 and USD/CAD dipping 0.01% to 1.0935. The US Dollar Index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.03% to 79.50.