WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The dollar got off to a weak start against its major rivals Thursday, but has pared its losses in the afternoon. The recovery began after President Trump called off the planned summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Trump attributed the decision to the 'tremendous anger and open hostility displayed in your most recent statement.'
Trump sent a letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Thursday expressing his belief it would be inappropriate to hold the planned meeting in Singapore on June 12th.
'Therefore, please let this letter serve to represent that the Singapore summit, for the good of both parties, but to the detriment of the world, will not take place,' Trump wrote.
He added, 'You talk about nuclear capabilities, but ours are so massive and powerful that I pray to God they will never have to be used.'
The release of the letter came after North Korean vice foreign minister Choe Son-hui raised the possibility of canceling the meeting following what she called 'ignorant and stupid' comments by Vice President Mike Pence.
For the second consecutive week, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing a weekly increase in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits. The Labor Department said initial jobless claims climbed to 234,000 in the week ended May 19th, an increase of 11,000 from the previous week's revised level of 223,000.
The increase came as a surprise to economists, who had expected jobless claims to edge down to 220,000 from the 222,000 originally reported for the previous week.
After reporting a bigger than expected increase in U.S. existing home sales in the previous month, the National Association of Realtors released a report on Thursday showing existing home sales pulled back by much more than expected in the month of April.
NAR said existing home sales tumbled by 2.5 percent to an annual rate of 5.46 million in April after climbing by 1.1 percent to a rate of 5.60 million in March. Economists had expected existing home sales to edge down by 0.2 percent.
ECB policymakers agreed that the underlying growth momentum in the euro area remained intact, though the uncertainty regarding the outlook has increased, the minutes of the European Central Bank's April 25-26 rate-setting session showed Thursday.
'It was widely felt that uncertainty surrounding the outlook had increased and caution was seen as warranted in interpreting recent developments, also because the moderation in growth appeared to be broad-based across countries and sectors,' the minutes, which the ECB calls 'account' revealed.
'A more pronounced weakening of demand, notably related to external factors, could therefore not be ruled out.'
The dollar fell to a low of $1.1750 against the Euro Thursday morning, but has since rebounded to around $1.1725.
Germany's economic growth halved as estimated in the first quarter on weak trade and government spending, detailed data from Destatis showed Thursday.
Gross domestic product grew 0.3 percent sequentially, slower than the 0.6 percent expansion seen in the previous quarter. This was the weakest growth in more than a year and matched the provisional estimate published on May 15.
Germany's consumer confidence is set to weaken in June, survey data from market research group GfK showed Thursday. The forward-looking consumer sentiment index dropped by 0.1 points to 10.7 in June. The score was forecast to remain at 10.7.
France's manufacturing sentiment remained unchanged in May, survey data from the statistical office Insee showed Thursday. The manufacturing sentiment index held steady at 109 in May. The score was forecast to fall to 108.
The buck dropped to a low of $1.3421 against the pound sterling this morning, but has since bounced back to around $1.3380.
UK retail sales grew at the fastest pace in one-and-a-half years in April, after heavy snow dampened spending at the start of the year.
Retail sales volume, including auto fuel, expanded 1.6 percent month-on-month, in contrast to a 1.1 percent fall in March, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed Thursday. Sales were forecast to climb moderately by 0.9 percent.
The greenback slid to a 2-week low of Y108.951 against the Japanese Yen Thursday, but has since risen back to around Y109.300.
Japan's leading weakened more than initially estimated in March, latest figures from the Cabinet Office showed Thursday. The leading index, which measures the future economic activity, dropped to 104.4 in March from 105.9 in February. The flash score for March was 105.0.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX