Early trade in New York: Dollar dips, bitcoin hits another record

NEW YORK: The dollar slipped on Thursday in quiet trading, weighed down by slightly weaker-than-expected US jobless claims data that followed tepid inflation numbers and a dovish message from the Federal Reserve the previous session.

Currency moves however were confined to narrow ranges due to holidays in Asian markets.

In the cryptocurrency market, bitcoin hit another record of $48,481.45, as it continues its march toward the $50,000 mark. It was last up 6.3% at $47,685.

Thursday's data showed initial claims for state unemployment benefits totalled a seasonally adjusted 793,000 for the week ended Feb. 6, compared to 812,000 a week before. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 757,000 applications for the period.

In mid-morning trading, the dollar index was down 0.1% at 90.354. So far the dollar is on track for its largest weekly loss since around mid-December.

Prior to this week, the dollar had gained more than 2% since January as investors covered extreme short positions on the currency.

The euro was up around 0.2% against the dollar at $1.2138. A European Commission forecast that the euro zone economy will rebound less than expected in 2021 did not impact the currency.

The Australian dollar - viewed as a liquid proxy for risk appetite - was up 0.5% at US$0.7765. It hit a three-week high earlier in the session of US$0.7772.