Dollar Extends Losses After Jobless Report (UUP)

The dollar extended losses against most major currencies Thursday morning, as a weaker-than-expected jobs report rattled investors. The PowerShares US Dollar Index

is down by 0.6% today. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 37,000 to a seasonally adjusted 464,000 in the week ended July 17, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast claims rising to 445,000. The dollar's continued weakness could also be attributed to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's Congressional testimony on Wednesday. Reuters reports that "Bernanke said the U.S. economic outlook was "unusually uncertain" and that the Fed was ready to ease monetary policy further if necessary, sending the two-year U.S. Treasury yield to a record low and diminishing the allure of the dollar versus the yen." With more comments coming from Mr. Bernanke today, investors appear to be scaling back on dollar exposure. "Bernanke was relatively dovish and the prospect for a very prolonged period of accommodative monetary policy and even some expectations the Fed could resume quantitative easing is behind this price action," said Patrick Jacq, strategist at BNP Paribas in Paris.