Dollar Loses Ground Against Major Rivals

(RTTNews) - The U.S. dollar lost ground against its major counterparts on Thursday as risk appetite increased on hopes the Federal Reserve is down with its rate hiking cycle.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged on Wednesday that financial conditions faced by businesses and households had tightened substantially in recent months - raising hopes that the U.S. central bank may now be finished with the most aggressive tightening cycle in four decades.

The latest data too added to the optimism about rates. The Labor Department's report showed initial jobless claims in the U.S. crept up to 217,000 in the week ended October 28th, an increase of 5,000 from the previous week's revised level of 212,000.

A separate report from the Labor Department also showed an unexpected decrease in unit labor costs in the third quarter.

The Labor Department said unit labor costs fell by 0.8% in the third quarter after shooting up by a revised 3.2% in the second quarter.

Unit labor costs were expected to climb by 0.7% compared to the 2.2% increase that had been reported for the previous quarter.

Markets now await the Labor Department's data on employment in the month of October. Economists currently expected employment to increase by 180,000 jobs in October after surging by 336,000 jobs in September. The unemployment rate is expected to remain at 3.8%.

The dollar index, which dropped to 105.81 earlier in the session, is currently at 106.17, down 0.67% from the previous close.

Against the Euro, the dollar is weak at 1.0619, easing from 1.057-. Against the Japanese currency, the dollar is trading at 150.51 yen, down from 150.96 yen.

The dollar is down at 1.2203 against Pound Sterling after the Bank of England kept rates on hold but signaled it is too early to think about rate cuts.

Against the Aussie, the dollar is weak at 0.6428, after having settled at 0.6393 on Wednesday.

The Swiss franc is up at 0.9063 a dollar, while the Loonie is stronger at C$1.3746 a dollar, firming from C$1.3858 a dollar, as oil prices rose sharply.