U.S. dollar fluctuates ahead of jobs report

The U.S. dollar fluctuated against most major currencies Thursday as investors awaited key nonfarm payroll report due out Friday.

Traders were looking to the key monthly employment data and more hints on future monetary policy from the U.S. Federal Reserve.

On the economic front, in the week ending March 26, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims was 276,000, an increase of 11,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 265,000, announced the U.S. Labor Department Thursday.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was down 0.35 percent at 94.525 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.1389 dollars from 1.1338 dollars of the previous session, and the British pound dropped to 1.4374 dollars from 1.4383 dollars. The Australian dollar went up to 0.7674 U.S. dollar from 0.7671 dollar.

The U.S. dollar bought 112.51 Japanese yen, higher than 112.44 yen of the previous session. The dollar decreased to 0.9601 Swiss franc from 0.9634 Swiss franc and inched up to 1.2971 Canadian dollars from 1.2966 Canadian dollars. Endit