U.S. Dollar Regains Ground Following Recent Weakness

(RTTNews) - After trending lower over the past several days, the value of the U.S. dollar has regained some ground during trading on Thursday.

Currently, the U.S. dollar index is climbing 0.49 points or 0.5 percent to 101.53, bouncing off its lowest levels in nearly eight months.

The greenback is trading at 146.5 yen versus the 145.21 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Wednesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1109 compared to yesterday's $1.1124.

The rebound by the dollar may partly reflect lingering economic concerns after the Labor Department released a report showing a modest rebound by initial jobless claims in the week ended August 17th.

The report said initial jobless claims rose to 232,000, an increase of 4,000 from the previous week's revised level of 228,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 230,000 from the 227,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Traders may also looking to the dollar as a safe haven ahead of the Kansas City Fed's Jackson Hole Economic Symposium, which gets underway later in the day.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak at the symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Friday, with traders looking for the central bank chief's comments to provide further clarity about the outlook for rates.

"Powell is expected to lay the groundwork for the Fed's first rate cut in over four years," said Adam Turnquist, Chief Technical Strategist for LPL Financial. "Signs of reduced pricing pressures and cooling economic growth will likely be enough for policymakers to start reducing the target rate."

He added, "However, investors will be listening for more details on the path of longer-term monetary policy beyond the expected cut in September."