* Rise in jobless claims data dampens risk appetite
* Dollar broadly higher, erases losses vs euro
* Swiss franc lower as traders nervous about intervention
(Updates prices, adds quotes, changes byline, dateline,
previous LONDON)
By Wanfeng Zhou
NEW YORK, June 25 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar rose against
major currencies on Thursday as worse-than-expected jobless
claims data dampened risk appetite and investors continued to
digest the Federal Reserve's statement released a day earlier.
The Swiss franc fell against both the euro and dollar as
traders cited more talk of the Swiss National Bank selling
francs for euros and dollars, possibly via the Bank for
International Settlements. Both the SNB and BIS declined to
comment. See [].
The dollar strengthened after the Federal Reserve on
Wednesday made no mention of plans to step up quantitative
easing, which some market participants considered to be a
downside risk to the dollar [].
A government report showing the number of U.S. workers
filing new claims for jobless benefits unexpectedly rose last
week further boosted the greenback and helped it reverse losses
against the euro.
"The jobless claims were a slight disappointment with the
increase in both headline and continuing claims," said Nick
Bennenbroek, head of FX strategy at Wells Fargo in New York.
"Overall, the dollar strengthened on the data because there
was some pressure on equities ... and a slight pullback in risk
appetite."
In early New York trading, the ICE Futures' U.S. dollar
index, which tracks the value of the greenback against a basket
of six major currencies, was up 0.3 percent at 80.818 <.DXY>,,
well off a roughly two-week low of 79.562 hit on Wednesday.
The euro <EUR=> fell 0.1 percent to $1.3910, after hitting
a two-week high of $1.4138 on Wednesday in the run-up to the
Fed meeting. The dollar rose about 0.5 percent to 96.19 yen
<JPY=EBS>.
Separately, the government said the U.S. economy shrank
slightly less in early 2009 than previously thought, but the
upward revision was more than offset by the disappointing
claims report. See []
Earlier, the euro jumped to 1.5380 Swiss francs from around
1.5282 francs in a matter of a few minutes, while the dollar
hit a session high of around 1.1020 francs from 1.0939 francs.
The euro was last at 1.5305 francs <EURCHF=EBS> , while the
dollar bought 1.1000 francs <CHF=EBS>..
Market participants remained jittery about possible
intervention by the Swiss National Bank to weaken its domestic
currency. The SNB repeatedly intervened on Wednesday, according
to traders, giving a stark reminder that it is determined to
fight deflation risks by preventing a rise in the Swiss franc.
"In the wake of yesterday, people were always going to be
nervous, and we're in thinner summer markets and that always
leaves potential for rumors or nerves to afflict markets," said
Jeremy Stretch, strategist at Rabobank in London.
(Additional reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss in New York
and Ian Chua, Naomi Tajitsu in London; Editing by Padraic
Cassidy)
