Forexpros - The U.S. dollar was up against all of its major counterparts on Thursday, after Japanese authorities stepped into the foreign exchange market to curb the yen's sharp gains and support its mainly export-led economy.
During European morning trade, the greenback was higher against the euro, with EUR/USD shedding 0.47% to hit 1.4255.
Worries over sovereign debt contagion in the euro zone continued to simmer after Italy's borrowing costs rose to a record high on Wednesday.
The greenback was also down against the pound, with GBP/USD sliding 0.37% to hit 1.6367.
Concerns over a slowdown in global growth persisted after a report on Wednesday showed activity in the U.S. services sector declined unexpectedly in July, falling to the lowest level since February 2010.
A separate report showed that U.S. factory orders declined more-than-expected in June.
Elsewhere, the greenback was sharply higher against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY jumping 3.65% to hit 79.86 and USD/CHF rallying 0.97% to hit 0.7777.
Japanese Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda confirmed earlier that the country intervened to curb the yen's gains for the first time since March, sending the yen sharply lower against all major currencies.
The Japanese intervention came one day after the Swiss National Bank cut its key lending rate to a narrower range and took other measures to prevent the Swiss franc from rising further.
In addition, the greenback was higher against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD climbing 0.55% to hit 0.9673, AUD/USD tumbling 1.03% to hit 1.0641 and NZD/USD falling 1.40% to hit 0.8513.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, surged 0.85% to hit 74.81.
Later Thursday, the U.S. was to publish government data on initial jobless claims.
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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.
