Dollar Turns Weak As Trump Calls For Lower Interest Rates
(RTTNews) - The U.S. dollar shed ground against most of its major counterparts on Thursday amid hopes of the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates.
U.S. President Donald Trump's remarks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, calling for major central banks to lower interest rates weighed on greenback.
Trump also reaffirmed his earlier promises of tax cuts, tariffs on trading partners, and increased energy production.
In economic news, data from the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose to 223,000 in the week ended January 18th, an increase of 6,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 217,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 220,000.
The dollar index, which climbed to 108.51 around late morning, dropped to 107.92 after Trump's remarks, and then recovered to 108.14, still marginally down from previous close.
Against the Euro, the dollar declined marginally to 1.0419. Against Pound Sterling, the dollar weakened to 1.2353 a unit of the British currency from 1.2316.
The dollar weakened against the Japanese currency, easing to 156.05 yen from 156.53 yen. Against the Aussie, the dollar was down at 0.6285.
The dollar gained marginally against Swiss franc, edging up to CHF 0.9075 from CHF 0.9067. Against the Loonie, the dollar gained slightly at C$ 1.4383.
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