On Thursday the dollar traded steady, soaring around 11-year highs against the other major currencies, after the Federal Reserve signaled that interest rates could start to rise around mid-year.
EUR/USD edged up 0.17% to 1.1309 after Germany's Federal Statistics Office said the number of the unemployed descended for the fourth consecutive month in January, falling by 9,000, compared to expectations for a drop of 10,000. The report also showed that Germany’s unemployment rate hit a record-low 6.5% in January, down from 6.6% in December, in line with expectations.
However, sentiment on the euro zone currency remained fragile, after Greece's new government moved Wednesday to roll back deeply unpopular austerity policies underpinning the county’s €240 billion international bailout, fuelling fears over a clash with its international creditors.
The pound sterling was also steady against the greenback, with GBP/USD at 1.5150 after the Nationwide Building Society reported that U.K. house price inflation rose 0.3% this month, in line with expectations, after a 0.2% uptick in December.
Year-on-year, U.K. house prices rose 6.8% in January, exceeding expectations for an increase of 6.6%, after a 7.2% gain the previous month.
USD/CHF rallied 1.75% to trade at 0.9208 and EUR/CHF jumped 2.10% to 1.0432 amid growing expectations that the Swiss National Bank will intervene to prevent the appreciation of the currency.
On Tuesday, SNB Vice President Jean-Pierre Danthine said it was still "fundamentally prepared" to intervene in currency markets, even after scrapping its cap.
Elsewhere, the yen slid lower, with USD/JPY rising 0.26% to 117.85.
The commodity-linked Australian and New Zealand dollars traded lower, with AUD/USD tumbling 1.08% to fresh five-and-a-half year lows at 0.7802 and NZD/USD down 0.45% to a new four-year trough of 0.7283.
The kiwi weakened after after the RBNZ held its benchmark interest rate at a record-low 3.50% and signaled that it is prepared to lower borrowing costs further as plunging oil prices dampen inflation.
Separately, data showed that New Zealand's trade deficit narrowed to NZ$159 million in December from NZ$285 million in November, confounding expectations for a deficit of NZ$48 million.
The Canadian dollar held steady at nearly six-year lows, with USD/CAD at 1.2540. Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish the weekly report on initial jobless claims as well as private sector data on pending home sales.
