News: FOREX-Dollar snaps two-day winning streak, bitcoin hovers near record highs

(New comment, changes dateline to NEW YORK (was LONDON), changes byline)

• Graphic: World FX rates https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E

The dollar lost ground on Thursday, ending its first two-day winning streak in two weeks as disappointing labor market data tempered expectations for a speedy economic recovery from the global health crisis.

"Right around 2 am this morning the dollar got sold across the board," said Erik Bregar, head of FX strategy at Exchange Bank of Canada in Toronto. "(That was) a precursor to the further weakness we're seeing today."

Bitcoin BTC=BTSP eased off its record high of $52,640 reached overnight. The cryptocurrency has surged roughly 78% so far this year as institutional interest ramps up, but some analysts warn that the rally might be unsustainable.

"Is (bitcoin) an asset class that the world should take more seriously? Perhaps," Bregar added. "The bigger the institutional investment involved, the more interested I'll get."

An unexpected increase in weekly jobless claims dampened enthusiasm over otherwise upbeat data this week, the day after minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve's most recent monetary policy meeting showed the central bank was determined to continue supporting the economic recovery.

The dollar slightly pared its losses against a basket of world currencies on the news.

"Today, jobless claims came in higher than expected that put a little bit of support back under the dollar," Bregar added. "And tomorrow, the market is going to forget about it and focus on something else."

The dollar index =USD was off 0.24% at 90.680 after two days of consecutive gains.

The euro EUR=EBS gained 0.30% to $1.2077 after sliding 0.5% overnight, the most in two weeks.

The yen JPY=EBS gained some ground against the greenback and was last almost flat at 105.800, but still below its 200-day moving average.

Sterling advanced 0.63% against the dollar GBP=D3 and was last at 1.395, and hit a high against the euro of 86.525 pence EURGBP=D3 . The pound is the best-performing G10 currency against the dollar this year.

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	Currency bid prices at 9:48AM (1448 GMT) 

 Description	  RIC		 Last		   U.S. Close  Pct Change	 YTD Pct	   High Bid	Low Bid 
											  Previous				   Change					
											  Session											  
 Dollar index	  =USD	   90.6660		90.8980	 -0.24%		 0.761%		+90.9810	+90.5530 
 Euro/Dollar	   EUR=EBS	$1.2076		$1.2040	 +0.30%		 -1.16%		+$1.2090	+$1.2036 
 Dollar/Yen		JPY=D3	 105.7900	   105.8600	-0.06%		 +2.43%		+105.9150   +105.6500 
 Euro/Yen		  EURJPY=	127.76		 127.46	  +0.24%		 +0.66%		+127.7800   +127.3400 
 Dollar/Swiss	  CHF=EBS	0.8968		 0.8988	  -0.22%		 +1.37%		+0.8995	 +0.8958 
 Sterling/Dollar   GBP=D3	 $1.3952		$1.3865	 +0.63%		 +2.13%		+$1.3986	+$1.3841 
 Dollar/Canadian   CAD=D3	 1.2694		 1.2698	  -0.02%		 -0.31%		+1.2716	 +1.2666 
 Aussie/Dollar	 AUD=D3	 $0.7762		$0.7751	 +0.13%		 +0.89%		+$0.7789	+$0.7748 
 Euro/Swiss		EURCHF=	1.0829		 1.0819	  +0.09%		 +0.20%		+1.0831	 +1.0820 
 Euro/Sterling	 EURGBP=	0.8652		 0.8682	  -0.35%		 -3.19%		+0.8700	 +0.8642 
 NZ				NZD=D3	 $0.7194		$0.7189	 +0.10%		 +0.21%		+$0.7222	+$0.7177 
 Dollar/Dollar																					 

 Dollar/Norway	 NOK=D3	 8.4770		 8.5020	  -0.24%		 -1.23%		+8.5160	 +8.4575 
 Euro/Norway	   EURNOK=	10.2360		10.2275	 +0.08%		 -2.21%		+10.2580	+10.2090 
 Dollar/Sweden	 SEK=	   8.3149		 8.3231	  +0.15%		 +1.45%		+8.3357	 +8.2972 
 Euro/Sweden	   EURSEK=	10.0412		10.0259	 +0.15%		 -0.35%		+10.0530	+10.0205 
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World FX rates	https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E 

Reflation trade's big FX winner: GBP https://tmsnrt.rs/3auhcJE

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