The dollar jumped against its peers Thursday boosted by upbeat U.S. jobless claims data as well as comments from ECB President Mario Draghi.
The U.S. Department of Labor reported on Thursday that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending October 17 increased by 3,000 to 259,000 from the previous week’s total of 256,000. Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by 9,000 to 265,000. It was the 33rd straight week that claims were below the 300,000 threshold, which is normally associated with a firming jobs market.
GBP/USD dipped 0.04% to trade at 1.5410. The dollar was also higher against the yen with USD/JPY last trading at 120.36, up 0.36%.
EUR/USD was last trading at 1.1170, down 1.5%.
The shared currency was hurt after ECB head Mario Draghi said the regulator will "reexamine" its monetary policy in December, hinting at the possibility for further easing measures.
At the ECB's monthly press conference in Malta, Mr. Draghi added that the ECB's quantitative easing program is set to run until 2016 or beyond if necessary.
Mr. Draghi also said that downside risks have emerged for growth and the inflation outlook in the eurozone. The remarks came shortly after the ECB said it was maintaining its benchmark interest rate at a record-low 0.05%, in line with market expectations.
The euro was also steeply lower against the pound, with EUR/GBP down 1.43% at 0.7248.
Earlier Thursday, the U.K. Office for National Statistics said retail sales surged by 1.9% last month, blowing past forecasts for a gain of 0.3%. Year-on-year, retail sales increased by 6.5% in September.
Core retail sales, which exclude automobile sales, jumped 1.7% last month, easily surpassing forecasts for a 0.3% increase.
