Dollar Turns Slightly Higher After Rebounding From Early Weakness

The dollar pulled back against all of its major rivals in early trade Thursday, but has since recovered and is now posting slight gains. The increase in weekly jobless claims this morning was slightly more than anticipated, but U.S. economic data was largely in line with expectations.

First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits saw a modest increase in the week ended June 17th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday. The report said initial jobless claims inched up to 241,000, an increase of 3,000 from the previous week's revised level of 238,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to edge up to 240,000 from the 237,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Reflecting widespread improvement, the Conference Board released a report on Thursday showing that its index of leading U.S. economic indicators rose in line with economist estimates in the month of May. The Conference Board said its leading economic index climbed by 0.3 percent in May after rising by a downwardly revised 0.2 percent in April.

Economists had expected the index to rise by 0.3 percent, matching the increase originally reported for the previous month.

The dollar slipped to an early low of $1.1177 against the Euro Thursday, but has since rebounded to around $1.1145.

France's manufacturing confidence dropped slightly in June, survey data from the statistical office Insee showed Thursday. The manufacturing sentiment index fell to 108.0 in June from 109.0 in May. The reading was above its long-term average of 100. The reading for May was the highest since June 2011.

The buck dipped to a low of $1.2686 against the pound sterling Thursday morning, but has since bounced back to around $1.2665.

UK total order books strengthened to a near three-decade high in June, the Industrial Trends Survey from the Confederation of British Industry showed Thursday. The total order books rose to +16 percent in June, the highest since August 1988. At the same time, the export order book balance came in at +13 percent, the strongest since June 1995.

There is still a long way to go before achieving the inflation target of 2 percent, Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Kikuo Iwata said Thursday.

Further, risks have continued to be skewed to the downside, particularly those regarding developments in overseas economies and Japan's inflation expectations, he told business leaders in Aomori.

The greenback fell to an early low of Y110.987 against the Japanese Yen, but has since climbed to around Y111.400.