U.S. dollar inches up as traders digest Fed, ECB decisions

NEW YORK, May 4 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. dollar firmed up slightly in late trading on Thursday as traders continued to digest the latest monetary decisions by the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank (ECB).

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, increased 0.04 percent at 101.3943 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.1015 dollars from 1.1058 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound rose to 1.2578 dollars from 1.2561 U.S. dollars in the previous session.

The U.S. dollar bought 134.1790 Japanese yen, lower than 135.5070 Japanese yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar decreased to 0.8858 Swiss francs from 0.8861 Swiss francs, and it fell to 1.3538 Canadian dollars from 1.3594 Canadian dollars. The U.S. dollar fell to 10.2423 Swedish Krona from 10.2446 Swedish Krona.

It may be too soon to cut rates, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday after the Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

"We on the committee have a view that inflation is going to come down not so quickly," Powell said. "It will take some time, and in that world, if that forecast is broadly right, it would not be appropriate to cut rates and we won't cut rates."

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Thursday that the U.S. monthly international trade deficit decreased to 64.2 billion dollars in March from 70.6 billion dollars in February. Economists had expected a reading of 63.7 billion dollars.

The U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday that the new jobless claims increased to 242,000 in the week ending April 29, higher than economists' expectation of 238,000. The reading in the prior week had been revised from 230,000 to 229,000.

The ECB slowed down its pace of monetary tightening and raised its key interest rates by 25 basis points on Thursday, in line with the investors' expectation. "The inflation outlook continues to be too high for too long," the ECB said in a statement.

ECB President Christine Lagarde said at a press conference on Thursday, "We are not pausing - that is very clear. We know that we have more ground to cover."