Dollar up vs euro, Japanese yen U.S. jobless claims surge to...

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    • Dollar up vs euro, Japanese yen
    • U.S. jobless claims surge to record
    • Norwegian crown up nearly 2% amid better dollar liquidity
    • Graphic: World FX rates in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh

    (Adds new comment, updates prices)

    The dollar rose for a second straight day against a basket of currencies on Thursday as investors, worried about the prospect of a global recession, continued to take shelter in the greenback.

    "With the increase in the coronavirus impact around the world, investors are looking at the dollar as a safe haven," said Chris Gaffney, president of World Markets, TIAA Bank in St. Louis, Missouri.

    U.S. jobless claims in the latest week soared to a record level, yet the dollar's reaction was tepid at most.

    Data showed initial claims for unemployment benefits rose to 6.65 million in the latest week from an unrevised 3.3 million the previous week. The figures far exceeded the median estimate of 3.50 million in a Reuters survey of economists.

    "The order of magnitude of this data is so colossal compared to expectations that there's really no datum to work out what the story is," said Richard Benson, co-chief investment officer at Millennium Global Investments in London.

    "It's just very, very bad. So I am not sure the market is going to trade on data surprises from that mix."

    Markets have been alarmed since U.S. President Donald Trump's warning on Tuesday of a painful two weeks ahead in fighting the coronavirus, even with strict social distancing measures.

    The United States has over 200,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases - the most worldwide - which has sent investors flocking to safe-haven assets.

    Some analysts do not expect the dollar to extend its recent rally after the Federal Reserve took a series of measures, which have begun to have an impact, to ensure an adequate global supply of the currency.

    The cost of raising U.S. dollar funds in the yen and euro swaps market stabilized on Thursday, with premiums favoring the other currencies, suggesting that greenback demand had receded from earlier in the coronavirus pandemic EURCBS3M=ICAP JPYCBS3M=ICAP .

    In early afternoon trading, the dollar index was up 0.8% at 100.35 =USD . Against the yen, the dollar rose 0.7% at 107.91 yen JPY=EBS . The euro extended its decline, falling 1.2% to $1.0828, after hitting a one-week low EUR=EBS . The Fed's efforts to improve dollar liquidity have boosted other currencies such as the Norwegian crown, which advanced further on Thursday to a three-week high of 11.1820 against the euro. It was last trading up 2% at 11.24 EURNOK=D3 .

    To combat the economic slowdown from the pandemic, the Fed said on Wednesday it was temporarily easing its leverage rules for large banks by exempting certain investments from a key leverage calculation.

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    	Currency bid prices at 1:59PM (1759 GMT) 
    
     Description	  RIC		 Last		   U.S. Close  Pct Change	 YTD Pct	 High Bid	Low Bid 
    											  Previous				   Change				  
    											  Session											
     Euro/Dollar	  EUR=		$1.0827		$1.0962	 -1.23%		 -3.42%	  +1.0968	 +1.0827 
     Dollar/Yen	   JPY=		107.9100	   107.1500	+0.71%		 -0.87%	  +108.0900   +107.0300 
     Euro/Yen		 EURJPY=	 116.85		 117.48	  -0.54%		 -4.18%	  +117.7200   +116.3600 
     Dollar/Swiss	 CHF=		0.9743		 0.9654	  +0.92%		 +0.67%	  +0.9746	 +0.9651 
     Sterling/Dollar  GBP=		1.2365		 1.2376	  -0.09%		 -6.74%	  +1.2474	 +1.2351 
     Dollar/Canadian  CAD=		1.4193		 1.4188	  +0.04%		 +9.29%	  +1.4298	 +1.4081 
     Australian/Doll  AUD=		0.6035		 0.6070	  -0.58%		 -14.02%	 +0.6119	 +0.6008 
     ar																							  
    
     Euro/Swiss	   EURCHF=	 1.0552		 1.0582	  -0.28%		 -2.76%	  +1.0594	 +1.0547 
     Euro/Sterling	EURGBP=	 0.8756		 0.8858	  -1.15%		 +3.57%	  +0.8861	 +0.8757 
     NZ			   NZD=		0.5900		 0.5905	  -0.08%		 -12.41%	 +0.5973	 +0.5882 
     Dollar/Dollar																				   
    
     Dollar/Norway	NOK=		10.4217		10.4310	 -0.09%		 +18.72%	 +10.4866	+10.2252 
     Euro/Norway	  EURNOK=	 11.2950		11.4640	 -1.47%		 +14.81%	 +11.4785	+11.1648 
     Dollar/Sweden	SEK=		10.1430		9.9826	  -0.23%		 +8.51%	  +10.1569	+9.9849 
     Euro/Sweden	  EURSEK=	 10.9836		11.0085	 -0.23%		 +4.91%	  +11.0163	+10.9102                    
 
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