By Harry Robertson
LONDON, June 20 (Reuters) -The dollar hit a seven-week high against the yen on Thursday, while the pound and euro fell as the U.S. economy remains strong and traders await fresh data. that reinforce the possibility that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this year.
* May retail sales released this week were lukewarm and the labor market appeared to weaken. Additionally, the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week but was still higher than expected, data released Thursday showed, indicating the labor market remains strong despite a gradual cooling.
* “Tomorrow’s U.S. Purchasing Managers’ Index could serve as a catalyst for a day of greater volatility, so we’ll be keeping an eye on that to close out the week,” said Helen Given, associate director of operations at Monex USA. in Washington.
* The dollar hit its highest level since April 29 against the yen and rose 0.51% to 158.89 yen in New York trading. Traders remain attentive to signs that the Bank of Japan will continue to intervene to boost a currency that hit 34-year lows at the end of April.
* Along with the weakness in the yen, falls in the euro and sterling have helped the dollar index rise 0.4% to 105.61.
* The euro fell 0.34% against the dollar, to $1.0708. It hit a session low of $1.0706, but remained above the six-week low of $1.0667 hit on Friday.
* Sterling fell 0.42% to $1.2667 after hitting a five-week low in afternoon trading. In the early afternoon, the Bank of England held interest rates on hold, with some policymakers saying the decision not to cut rates was “finely balanced.”
* The dollar index rose after 10 days of volatility, with mixed US economic data and political uncertainty in France shaking European markets.
(Reporting by Harry Robertson, additional reporting by Samuel Indyk; Edited in Spanish by Ricardo Figueroa and Héctor Espinoza)
