The week ended with the US dollar weakening against nearly all of the majors. One of the biggest reasons for this fallout in the dollar is that jobless claims data increased to 460K last week.



This unexpected jump is due in part to the adjustment of data before the Easter holiday. In the stock markets, the Dow Jones gained by 0.27% and the NASDAQ gained by 0.23%. As for commodities, gold remained nearly unchanged at $1,152 per ounce and crude oil fell by 0.5% to close at $85.50 per barrel.
The British pound sterling was able to gain against the dollar. This gain can be attributed to the hike in UK factory production in February. This increase in factory production data came out at nearly two times the expected amount, resulting in the highest level since 2008.
Another contributing factor is that the interest rate remained unchanged at 0.5%. The GBP/USD forex pair traded at a high of 1.5280 and a low of 1.5139. The euro fell to a near-two week low against the dollar. This drop in value is due to the fact that investors are worried that Greece might default on its debt. The EUR/USD forex pair traded at a high of 1.3366 and a low of 1.3281.