U.S. dollar drops slightly

The Dollar Index traded 0.1% lower to 96.93

The U.S. dollar slid slightly Thursday, remaining under pressure drop, even after a stronger-than-expected jobs report.

At 19:30 GMT, the Dollar Index traded 0.1% lower to 96.93.

The currency received limited support from the release of a set of robust jobs numbers on Wednesday, with job growth unexpectedly accelerating in January and the unemployment rate falling to 4.3%.

These numbers offered up more signs of the country’s economic resilience, and resulted in traders paring back central bank rate cut expectations.

There is good and bad news for the dollar after yesterday’s payrolls. The good one is intuitive: job numbers were good, said analysts at ING, in a note.

The bad news for the dollar is that it should have rebounded more on the jobs data. Half of the initial USD rally reverted quickly, and that was not due to second thoughts on jobs figures: short-term dollar rates rose and stayed up. We instead read that as a sign markets remain minded to sell USD rallies on the back of longer-term considerations. This means the bar for a USD recovery is higher: more good data is needed, for a start.

The focus is now squarely on upcoming consumer price index inflation data, due on Friday, for more cues on that country’s economy. There was not much reaction in the dollar to weekly jobless claims data published this morning, which came in higher than expected.

In Europe, GBP/USD was little changed at 1.3622, with sterling struggling to post gains after data showed the U.K. economy eked out meagre growth in the final quarter of 2025.

Elsewhere, EUR/USD was flat at 1.1865.

In Asia, USD/JPY declined 0.2% to 152.94, dropping to its lowest level in three weeks.

USD/CNY edged 0.2% lower to 6.9010, declining to its lowest level since May 2023.

AUD/USD shed 0.4% to 0.7096, after hitting its strongest level since early-January earlier in the week.