1st LD Writethru: U.S. dollar mixed amid weak data, Swiss currency cap removal

The U.S. dollar traded mixed against other major currencies on Thursday as economic data from the country came out negative and Switzerland moved to scrap a three-year-old cap on the franc.

The number of Americans who initially applied for jobless benefits in the week ending Jan. 10 gained 19,000 to 316,000 from the previous week's revised level, the U.S. Labor Department said on Thursday. The total number was higher than the market consensus of 295,000.

Separately, the department reported that the U.S. Producer Price Index (PPI) for final demand fell 0.3 percent in December on a seasonally adjusted basis.

Analysts said the latest PPI showed inflation pressure at the producer level remained soft, which would give the Federal Reserve more space to sustain its current low interest rate.

The Swiss francs soared against the euro and the U.S. dollar as the Swiss National Bank surprisingly announced that it is removing its minimum exchange rate of Swiss franc 1.20 per euro.

Analysts say the bank's move showed a lack of confidence of the euro and thus increased speculation that the European Central Bank would unveil a bond-buying program during a policy meeting scheduled for Jan. 22 in an effort to fight deflation.

The euro/dollar rate slipped 1.48 percent during the session. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against six major currencies, was up 0.22 percent at 92.361 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro moved down to 1.1612 dollars from 1.1778 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound fell to 1.5188 dollars from 1.5220 dollars. The Australian dollar went up to 0.8224 dollars from 0.8148 dollars.

The U.S. dollar bought 116.52 Japanese yen, lower than 117.30 yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar went down to 0.8724 Swiss francs from 1.0197 Swiss francs, and it moved up to 1.1969 Canadian dollars from 1.1959 Canadian dollars. Endite