Asian session review: the dollar was almost unchanged against major currencies

The US dollar rose slightly against the euro and the pound, and stabilized against the yen, as traders wait for statistical data on the US labor market. Today, the US Department of labor will release data on unemployment in August.

According to data released on Thursday, the number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits for the first time in the week ending August 29, decreased by 130 thousand to 881 thousand people. Thus, the number of new applications has become the lowest since the beginning of the pandemic. According to the revised data, a week earlier, the number of requests was 1.011 million, not 1.006 million, as originally reported. Experts expected a decrease to 950 thousand..

The Austrian dollar declined against the US dollar. Retail sales in Australia in July increased by 3.2% compared to the previous month. Thus, the indicator increased for the third consecutive month on the back of economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ICE index, which tracks the dynamics of the US dollar against six currencies (Euro, Swiss franc, yen, canadian dollar, pound sterling and Swedish Krona), rose 0.10% in trading.