(RTTNews) - The dollar kept the pressure on the euro Thursday morning in New York, coming within a hair of a fresh 9-month peak amid renewed concerns that the European economic recovery has stalled.
The dollar rose to 1.3450 versus the euro, and improved to 1.5255 against the sterling. On the flip side, the buck slipped below the 90 mark against the yen.
Similar to the trend seen in the US this month, Eurozone economic sentiment indicator fell to 95.9 in February from 96 in January after ten months of uninterrupted increases, results of a survey conducted by the European Commission showed Thursday.
Meanwhile, German unemployment increased for the second month in February.
Cautious traders have bid up the safe haven dollar as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke prepares to take to Capitol Hill for a second day of testimony on the economy.
Bernanke, who assured extended period of low interest rate regime in his testimony yesterday, will appear before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.
A busy day on the economic front will also feature data on jobs, durable good, and housing. Recent figures have been lackluster, fueling worries about the pace of economic growth in the US.
The Labor Department will release the customary weekly jobless claims report for the week ended February 20, at 8.30 a.m. Economists expect that jobless claims declined by 13,000 to 460,000 from 473,000 reported for the previous week.
The Commerce Department will table a report on durable goods orders for January at 8.30 a.m. ET. Economists predict that factory orders rose by 1.5% in the month. At 10.00 a.m. ET, the Federal House Finance Agency, or FHFA, will release its house price index for December. In November, the index registered a marginal 0.7% increase month-over-month from a revised 0.6% increase in October.
