U.S. Dollar Advances On Risk Aversion

The U.S. dollar strengthened against its most major counterparts in the European session on Thursday, as European shares fell, tracking weakness in Asia, following disappointing economic data from Germany and South Korea that rekindled global slowdown fears.

Investors became cautious as a drop in German business confidence in April and contraction in the South Korean economy in the first quarter renewed fears over slowing global growth.

In its economic bulletin, the European Central Bank warned of slowing global growth and downside risks stemming from trade tensions.

Traders await U.S. durable goods orders and jobless claims, due to be released at 8:30 am ET.

The U.S. first-quarter gross domestic product data is due on Friday. Economists expect the economy to have expanded an annualised 2.2 percent in the first three months of 2019, unchanged from the previous quarter.

The greenback held steady against its major counterparts in the Asian session, with the exception of the yen.

The greenback advanced to a 2-day high of 1.0225 against the franc, from a low of 1.0196 touched at 5:00 pm ET. The greenback is seen finding resistance around the 1.05 level.

The greenback spiked up to 1.1128 against the euro, a level unseen since June 2017. Next key resistance for the greenback is seen around the 1.10 level. The greenback that closed Wednesday's trading at 1.2902 against the pound strengthened to more than a 2-month high of 1.2871. On the upside, 1.27 is possibly seen as the next resistance level for the greenback.

The greenback appreciated to 0.6992 against the aussie, its highest since January 3, when it set a 10-year peak. Should the greenback continues its rise, 0.68 is possibly seen as its next resistance level.

The U.S. currency firmed to near a 6-month high of 0.6580 against the kiwi, compared to 0.6592 hit late New York Wednesday. The greenback is poised to test resistance around the 0.64 area.

The greenback edged up to 1.3517 against the loonie from Wednesday's closing value of 1.3489. Extension of the greenback's uptrend is likely to take it to a resistance around the 1.37 level.

On the flip side, the greenback held steady against the yen, after having dropped to 111.74 at 3:15 am ET. At yesterday's close, the pair was worth 112.17.

The Bank of Japan kept its monetary policy unchanged, leaving the interest rate at -0.1 percent and the yield of 10-year JGBs at around zero percent.

The BoJ said that it will keep its current extremely low interest rates for an extended period of time, at least through spring 2020.

Looking ahead, U.S. weekly jobless claims for the week ended April 20 and durable goods orders for March are scheduled for release in the New York session.