Dollar rises against most major currencies

The dollar rose against most major currencies on Feb 4th as a weak <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />U.S. job report and concerns over European debt problems boosted safety-haven demand for the greenback.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

U.S. initial claims for jobless benefits rose unexpectedly to 480,000 in the week ending Jan. 30 from 472,000 previously, the Labor Department reported. The four-week average, which smoothes fluctuations, rose for the third straight week to 469,000, the highest level in the past two months.

The report suggests that the underlying trend in claims has deteriorated as the filing backlog from the holiday season has largely been cleared out, analysts said.

The Labor Department is due to release the closely-watched non- farm payroll report on Friday. It was forecasted that employment was approximately unchanged in January but the unemployment rate edged higher to 10.1 percent.

The European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England decided to leave their key interest rates unchanged at historically low levels. The euro area economy is expected to grow only at a moderate pace in 2010 and the recovery process could be uneven, said ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet.

Trichet also said that many euro area countries are faced with large, sharply rising fiscal imbalances, leading to less favorable medium and long-term interest rates and lower levels of private investment. Moreover, high levels of public deficit and debt place an additional burden on monetary policy and undermine the Stability and Growth Pact of the European Union.

The euro bought 1.3746 dollars in late New York trading compared with 1.3905 dollars it bought late Wednesday. The pound fell to 1.5764 dollars from 1.5901 dollars.

The dollar rose to 1.0718 Canadian dollars from 1.0616 Canadian dollars, and rose to 1.0656 Swiss francs from 1.0585 Swiss francs. It fell to 89.18 Japanese yen from 91.04 Japanese yen.