Treasury - Daily Forex for day 19.05.2006

The dollar fell across the board on Thursday after U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow reiterated that China should increase the yuan's flexibility. The dollar slipped predominantly against the yen, the move which knocked the greenback down also against other major currencies. On the economic data front, the U.S. government reported that initial jobless claims rose to a seasonally adjusted 367,000 in the week ended May 13 from an upwardly revised 325,000 claims in the previous week. Economists had forecast new claims to drop to 319,000, unaware of a partial government shutdown in Puerto Rico, which added 46,000 unadjusted claims. Thus, the market reaction to the data was muted.

The crown closed Thursday's trade almost unchanged versus the euro, but this morning it firmed back on positive sentiment in the whole region.