Title: Dollar Edges Higher Off Range Lows; Jobless claims Due

Dec 30, 2021 01:44AM ET

By: AnalysisWatch

The dollar edged higher in early European trade on Thursday, but remained at the lower end of its recent trading range on light volume as concerns over the Omicron COVID-19 variant continued to ease.

At 1:45 AM ET (0645 GMT), the dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, was trading 0.2% higher at 96.105, supported by rising US government bond yields, with benchmark 10-year yields reaching 1.56% on Wednesday, the highest since late November.

USD/JPY rose 0.2% to 115.16, a one-month high and close to November's level of 115.51, the highest since early 2017. The risky EUR/USD fell 0.3% to 1.1317, remaining close to its one-month high, while the risky GBP/USD fell slightly to 1.3477, just below its overnight high since November 19, and the risky AUD/USD rose slightly to 0.7249.

Investors will be looking to the release of weekly initial jobless claims later on Thursday for further evidence that the US economic recovery is continuing despite the rise in COVID claims.

Initial jobless claims totaled 205,000 in the week ended December 18, unchanged from the previous period, Labor Department data showed last week—a level generally consistent with pre-pandemic levels.

Claims are expected to be largely unchanged at 8:30 AM ET (1330 GMT), highlighting the small job losses in recent months as employers focus on recruiting and retaining workers to keep up with consumer demand.