Investing.com - The U.S. dollar is trading lower across the board against its major rivals in Asia Thursday as traders look to lock in profits on the greenback after the U.S. Dollar Index rose to a seven-month high during Wednesday's U.S. session.
In Asian trading Thursday, EUR/USD is up 0.05% at 1.2968, indicating traders might be doing the some dip-buying with the euro. The common currency inched higher after Italy's Treasury sold EUR3.32 billion in three-year government bonds at an average yield of 2.48%, up from 2.30% at a similar auction last month, which weakened the euro.
The auction was the first since Fitch Ratings slapped a one-notch downgrade on Italy earlier this month. In U.S. economic news, the Commerce Department said U.S. retail sales rose 0.6% last month. Core sales, excluding gasoline and construction sales, rose 0.4%. Auto sales climbed 1.1% after rising 0.4% in January.
In a separate report, the Commerce Department said business inventories rose 1% in January, the biggest increase since May 2011. The January reading topped December's reading of a gain of 0.3%. Economists expected a January gain of 0.5%.
USD/JPY slipped 0.37% to 95.77 as traders may be sensing, once again, that the yen has depreciated too rapidly against the greenback after the pair hit a three-and-a-half year high earlier this week.
GBP/USD rose 0.16% to 1.4948 while USD/CHF fell 0.09% to 0.9516. USD/CAD fell 0.08% to 1.0270 despite lower oil prices. Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate are trading lower after the U.S. Energy Information Administration said oil inventories rose by 2.624 million barrels last week, down from 3.833 million in the preceding week but above market calls for a gain of 2.338 million barrels.
AUD/USD surged 0.65% to 1.0367 after the Australian Bureau of Statistics said that Australian unemployment rate remained unchanged at a seasonally adjusted 5.4%. Analysts expected a February reading of 5.5%.
NZD/USD rose 0.07% to 0.8189 while the U.S. Dollar Index is off 0.17% at 83.06.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
