Daily Market Review - 12/26/2013

The U.S. dollar was mixed against the other major currencies on Thursday, with the greenback rising to a five-year high against the yen after data showed that that the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week fell more-than-expected.

The U.S. Department of Labor said earlier that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits declined by 42,000 to a seasonally adjusted 338,000 last week. Analysts had expected U.S. jobless claims to fall by 35,000 to 345,000 from the previous week's revised total of 380,000, which was the highest since March.

The upbeat data added to the view that the U.S. economy will be strong enough to allow the Federal Reserve to continue withdrawing stimulus through 2014.

USD/JPY rose to a session high of 104.84, the highest since October 5, 2008, during U.S. morning trade, before subsequently consolidating at 104.79, up 0.4%.

The yen weakened broadly amid speculation the Bank of Japan will have to expand its stimulus program in the coming months in order to meet its target of 2% inflation by 2015.

Minutes of the BoJ's November policy meeting showed that that not all board members were convinced that the country's growth was on a long-term upward trend. Investors also reacted to comments made by BoJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, who said that the nation's economy hadn't yet completely wiped out deflation.

Meanwhile, the greenback was modestly lower against the euro and the pound, with EUR/USD adding 0.01% to 1.3683 and GBP/USD up 0.38% to 1.6413.

Trading volumes were light as financial markets in London and across Europe remained closed for the Boxing Day holiday.

The dollar was steady against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF inching up 0.06% to 0.8963.

Elsewhere, the greenback was mixed against the commodity-linked currencies. AUD/USD shed 0.45% to 0.8882, NZD/USD dipped 0.37% to 0.8153, while USD/CAD slumped 0.07% to 1.0626.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, added 0.02% to 80.69.