Dollar Stays Weak Against Most Major Counterparts

(RTTNews) - The U.S. dollar stayed weak against most of its major counterparts on Thursday, although the decline was not any significantly pronounced.

Traders continued to track the developments on the tariff front, and digested the latest batch of economic data, and the European Central Bank's decision to lower interest rates once again.

The Governing Council of ECB, led by President Christine Lagarde cut the deposit rate by 25 basis points to 2.5%, which is the lowest level since February 2023 when it was at the same level. The main refinancing rate was lowered by a quarter basis points to 2.65% and the lending rate to 2.9%, respectively.

The Commerce Department released a report showing the U.S. trade deficit widened by more than expected in the month of January.

The report said the trade deficit surged to $131.4 billion in January from a revised $98.1 billion in December. Economists had expected the trade deficit to jump to $123.0 billion from the $98.4 billion originally reported for the previous month.

The Labor Department released a report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell by more than expected in the week ended March 1st.

The report said initial jobless claims dipped to 221,000, a decrease of 21,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 242,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to edge down to 235,000.

On Friday, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its more closely watched report on employment in the month of February.

The dollar index, which dropped to 103.76, recovered to 104.22 as the day progressed, but was still slightly down from the unchanged line.

Against the Euro, the dollar was down marginally at 1.0786 a little while ago, recovering from an early low of 1.0854 a unit of the European currency. Against Pound Sterling, the dollar firmed to 1.2884, recovering from 1.2920.

The dollar gained against the Japanese currency, firming to 147.99 yen a unit. Against the Aussie, the dollar gained marginally at 0.6331.

Against Swiss franc, the dollar weakened to CHF 0.8835, and against the Loonie, it eased to 1.4298.