Forexpros - The U.S. dollar remained higher against all of its major counterparts on Thursday, after Japan intervened in the currency market to quash the strength of the yen and support the country's export-led economy.
During European afternoon trade, the greenback was higher against the euro, with EUR/USD falling 0.68% to hit 1.4227.
The European Central Bank said it was maintaining the benchmark interest rate at 1.50% earlier, in a widely anticipated decision.
Meanwhile, Spanish borrowing cost rose following a debt auction earlier, keeping alive the threat of sovereign debt contagion in the single currency bloc.
The greenback was also down against the pound, with GBP/USD shedding 0.56% to hit 1.6334.
Earlier in the day, the Bank of England said it was maintaining the benchmark interest rate at 0.50%, as expected.
Elsewhere, the greenback was sharply higher against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY jumping 3.31% to hit 79.60 and USD/CHF climbing 0.49% to hit 0.7741.
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 calling the Swiss franc "massively overvalued."
In addition, the greenback was higher against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD rallying 0.99% to hit 0.9716, AUD/USD tumbling 1.76% to hit 1.0564 and NZD/USD dropping 1.70% to hit 0.8488.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, jumped 1.06% to hit 74.99.
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.
