Dollar continues slide on worse-than-expected data

The US dollar fell against most of its peers on Thursday, after the release of worse than expected data, and ahead of the monthly jobs report.

The US unemployment claims reached 1.877 million during the past week, higher than forecasts of 1.820 million.

The trade balance deficit rose 16.7% to $49.4 billion in April, also worse than estimates of $41.5 billion.

The US Department of Labor will also release tomorrow the monthly jobs report, with forecasts of 8 million jobs lost in May and for the unemployment rate to reach 19.5% vs. 14.7%.

The dollar index fell against a basket of currencies by 0.6% to 96.6 points as of 18:31 GMT, after it hit a high of 97.6 and a low of 96.6.