NEW YORK: The dollar gained on Thursday after earlier pushing the yen to a 10-month low, and kept the euro and sterling pinned near their weakest levels in about three months, as investors placed their bets on a still-resilient US economy amid the recent spate of stronger-than-expected data.
China’s onshore yuan slid to a 16-year low versus the greenback, under pressure from a property slump, weak consumer spending and shrinking credit growth in the world’s second-largest economy.
Against a basket of currencies including the euro and sterling, the dollar rose 0.1% to 104.98, holding on to some of its gains from the previous session after scaling a six-month peak as the US services sector unexpectedly gained steam in August.
More data on Thursday further pointed to a relatively tenacious US economy. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell unexpectedly to 216,000 in the week ended Sept. 2 from a revised 229,000 the week before.
The latest week’s numbers were the lowest since February. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast new claims would rise to 234,000 in the latest week.
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