Investing.com - The dollar regained some ground against the other major currencies on Thursday, as investors eyed the release of U.S. jobless claims data later in the day, as well as the Federal Reserve's highly-anticipated policy decision next week.
USD/JPY rose 0.23% to 121.73.
Demand for the dollar continued to be underpinned by expectations that the Fed is on track to raise interest rates for the first time since 2006 at its upcoming meeting on December 15-16.
Higher interest rates would make the dollar more attractive to yield-seeking investors.
EUR/USD slid 0.77% to 1.0938.
The euro still remained supported after the latest round of easing announced by the European Central Bank fell well short of market expectations.
On Wednesday, ECB Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny said market expectations for additional stimulus measures had been too high and that investors should have paid more attention to economic fundamentals.
Elsewhere, the dollar was steady against the pound, with GBP/USD at 1.5172 and was higher against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF gaining 0.72% to 0.9905.
Markets shrugged off earlier data showing that the U.K. trade deficit widened to £11.83 billion in October from £8.8 billion the previous month. Economists had expected the trade deficit to widen to £9.7 billion in October.
Investors were awaiting the Bank of England's monthly monetary policy decision, due later in the day.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were stronger, with AUD/USD up 0.79% at 0.7288 and with NZD/USD adding 0.13% to 0.6727.
Earlier Thursday, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand lowered its benchmark interest rate from 2.75% to 2.50%, in a widely expected move.
Commenting on the decision, RBNZ Governor Graeme Wheeler said that such a level should be low enough to meet the central bank's inflation target, but that it remains prepared to lower rates again if necessary.
In Australia, data showed that the number of employed people increased by 71,400 in November, confounding expectations for a 10,000 decline.
The unemployment rate ticked down to 5.8% last month from 5.9% in October, compared to expectations for a rise to 6.0%.
Separately, the Melbourne Institute said that its inflation expectations for the next 12 months rose to 4.0% last month from 3.5% in October.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD slipped 0.17% to trade at 1.3555, still close to Tuesday's 11-1/2 year highs of 1.3621.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.55% at 97.87.