The dollar traded near this week's four-week lows against the euro and yen on Thursday ahead of U.S. jobless claims and a key business survey that dealers expect to provide further clues about the interest rate outlook. Wednesday's trough against the yen came in a broad move by investors to buy back the Japanese currency, after many went short, and also saw the euro and sterling suffer. However, investors awaited the 1230 GMT report on initial U.S. jobless claims -- expected at 335,000 versus 333,000 previously -- as well as other releases to see if a recent soft patch in the economy was the start of a trend or just a blip. "People are now looking very closely at pretty much every U.S. economic report coming out," said Chris Gothard, currency analyst at Brown Brothers Harriman. "We've got the Philly Fed, which most people see falling back, and this may add to the pessimism that is starting to surround the U.S. economic growth picture. Jobless claims as always are a key focus -- the jobs picture is the real driver of most people's confidence about the U.S." By 0940 GMT, the dollar traded a quarter percent lower on the day at $1.2366 per euro and not far from Tuesday's August low against the single currency of $1.2387. It had firmed a touch from late New York levels to 109.46 yen , but remained near Wednesday's trough of 109.27.
The euro traded more than a third of a percent firmer at 135.40 yen as the Japanese currency surrendered a bit of Wednesday's gains. "The market is unwilling to take bets on any strong movement in the currency market at the moment. So they unwound some yen positions and that pushed it higher against the dollar on Wednesday," said Gothard. "It was limited because there are concerns and doubts about Japanese growth but the governing driver of the currency market at the moment is worries about the U.S. economy and the prospect of rate increases from the Federal Reserve." Analysts expected the Conference Board's report on July leading economic indicators at 1400 GMT to show a 0.2 percent decline, matching the decrease in the previous month. The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank's August business activity survey takes the spotlight at 1600 GMT, after an unexpectedly weak survey from the New York Fed earlier this week. Analysts forecast the Philly Fed survey to show a reading of 32.0 versus 36.1 in July.
YEN AND OIL
The yen's previous gains came mainly on crosses with the euro and pound, helping push the dollar down against the Japanese currency. Sterling fell sharply on Wednesday after minutes from the Bank of England raised expectations British interest rates might be close to their peak, though it was recovering on Thursday. "In general it was position adjustment and euro/yen and sterling/yen positions were unwound. But it was position adjustment so there is only so far you can go," said Bilal Hafeez, currency strategist at Deutsche Bank in London. "There are also concerns about the Japanese economy brewing in the background." The yen was also held back by oil prices, which hit yet another fresh high above $47.50 a barrel on Thursday, having set 14 records in 15 sessions.////