Dollar Loses Ground On Weak Economic Data

(RTTNews) - The U.S. dollar traded weak against most of its major counterparts on Thursday with traders reacting to the latest batch of economic data.

Data from the Labor Department today showed import prices slid by 0.8% in October after climbing by an upwardly revised 0.4% in September. Economists had expected import prices to decrease by 0.3% compared to the 0.1% uptick originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said export prices slumped by 1.1% in October after rising by a downwardly revised 0.5% in September. Export prices were expected to decline by 0.5% compared to the 0.7% increase originally reported for the previous month.

A separate Labor Department report showed initial jobless claims climbed by much more than expected in the week ended November 11th, rising to 231,000, an increase of 13,000 from the previous week's revised level of 218,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 220,000 from the 217,000 originally reported for the previous week.

The Federal Reserve also released a report showing industrial production fell by more than expected in October due in part to the strikes at several major motor vehicle manufacturers.

The dollar index, which dropped to 104.01 on weak economic data, recovered to 104.41 later on in the session, recording a marginal gain.

Against the Euro, the dollar is down slightly at 1.0850, recovering from 1.0897 a unit of the European currency.

The dollar is trading at 1.2411 against Pound Sterling, recovering from 1.2456 a unit of Sterling. Against the Japanese currency, the dollar is down, fetching 150.77 yen a unit.

The dollar is trading at 0.6467 against the Aussie, gaining from 0.6509. Against Swiss franc, the dollar is up slightly at CHF 0.8889, and against the Loonie, the dollar is up at C$1.3757 as oil prices fell sharply on concerns about the outlook for demand.