U.S. dollar mixed ahead of nonfarm payroll report

The U.S. dollar traded mixed against other major currencies on Thursday as investors were awaiting the closely-watched nonfarm payroll report due out Friday.

On the economic front, in the week ending July 30, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims was 269,000, an increase of 3,000 from the previous week' s unrevised level of 266,000, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday.

Meanwhile, investors will keep a close eye on Friday' s nonfarm payroll report for more clues on the recovery of U.S. labor market.

Analysts said the Federal Reserve may raise interest rates by year-end if the employment data is robust enough.

The U.S. dollar rose against the sterling on Thursday after a rate-cut decision by the Bank of England (BoE).

The BoE cut its interest rate from 0.5 percent to a record low level of 0.25 percent on Thursday, as Britain pushes for a stimulus to expand its economy after a historic vote to leave the European Union.

The move is the first cut in seven years since the rate hit its previous record low level of 0.5 percent in March 2009.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was up 0.17 percent at 95.722 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.1131 dollars from 1.1144 dollars of the previous session, and the British pound dipped to 1.3109 dollars from 1.3316 dollars. The Australian dollar went up to 0.7633 dollars from 0.7578 dollars.

The dollar bought 101.17 Japanese yen, the same as the previous session. The dollar climbed to 0.9738 Swiss francs from 0.9736 Swiss francs, and it inched down to 1.3010 Canadian dollars from 1.3084 Canadian dollars. Enditem