Dollar retreats after US economic data, pound rises

The U.S. dollar traded slightly lower against major currencies on Thursday after the release of jobless claims and housing starts data.   

U.S. initial jobless claims dropped to 280,000 in the week through September 13 from a revised of 316,000.  

However, housing starts fell by 14.4 percent in August following a 22.9 percent increase in July.

The dollar index, which tracks the green currency’s movements versus a basket of six major currencies, fell to 81.60 after visiting a high of 84.89.   

The main pressure on the dollar came from the advance in the pound amid expectations a “No” vote would win in today’s Scotland referendum. That means Scotland will remain as a part of the union and thereby avoid any economic and financial trouble that could occur due to the independence.

“A YouGov poll for the Times and Sun newspapers showed Scottish support for staying in the United Kingdom at 52 percent with Scottish support for the "Yes" campaign backing independence at 48 percent,” Reuters said.

Polling stations opened at 7 a.m. local time and will close at 10 p.m., where the first results will be announced 3 or 4 hours after that. The final result of the referendum will be available at 0400-0500 GMT on Friday.

The GBPUSD is currently trading around 1.6373 after touching a high of 1.6384.