Forex Pros – The U.S. dollar was mixed against its major counterparts on Thursday, as the release of a string of U.S. data painted an uneven picture of the U.S. economic recovery.

During European late afternoon trade, the greenback was down against the euro, with EUR/USD rising 0.24% to hit 1.3745.

Earlier in the day, European Central Bank policymaker Lorenzo Bini Smaghi warned that an expected rise in imported goods inflation could not be ignored, adding to speculation over a near-term ECB interest rate hike.

The greenback was also down against sterling with GBP/USD easing up 0.02% to hit 1.5936.

Sterling found support after the minutes of the Bank of England’s January policy meeting, released Wednesday, showed that the decision to leave rates unchanged was “finely balanced” for some members.

Elsewhere, the greenback was up against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY soaring 0.85% to hit 82.87 and USD/CHF rising 0.3% to hit 0.9447.

Also Thursday, ratings agency Standard & Poor cut Japan’s sovereign credit rating to AA- from AA, citing concerns over the country’s high fiscal deficits.

Meanwhile, the greenback was up against its Australian counterpart but down against its Canadian and New Zealand cousins, with AUD/USD shedding 0.5% to hit 0.9939, USD/CAD dipping 0.03% to hit 0.9937 and NZD/USD easing up 0.16% to hit 0.7734.

Earlier the Reserve Bank of New Zealand kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 3.0%, in a widely expected decision.

The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.15%.

Earlier in the day, the U.S. Department of Labor said that the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week rose to a seasonally adjusted 454K, much more than the expected 408K gain.

Separate reports showed that core durable goods orders rose less-than-expected in December while pending home sales rose more-than-expected in the month.

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