The dollar is turning in a mixed performance against its major rivals Thursday afternoon, but remains little changed overall. Investors continue to keep a close eye on the equity markets as the major averages have resumed their recent decline after a short recovery.
Central bankers say that the recent correction in U.S. stocks will have little impact on the broader economy, a sign that they still plan to raise interest rates at least three times in 2018.
"More volatility in the markets, and maybe addressing some of the excesses and imbalances in the markets, by having a little more volatility, may be a healthy thing," Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.
New York Fed President William Dudley chimed in on the matter, calling the drop in stocks 'small Potatoes.'
The dollar rose to an early high of $1.2211 against the Euro, but has since eased back to around $1.2265.
Germany's exports and imports increased unexpectedly in December, figures from Destatis revealed Thursday.
Exports rose 0.3 percent month-on-month in December, slower than the 4.1 percent increase seen in November. However, shipments were expected to fall 1 percent.
Similarly, monthly growth in imports eased to 1.4 percent from 2.2 percent in November. Economists had forecast a 0.8 percent drop for December.
As imports growth exceeded the rise in exports, the trade surplus fell to a seasonally adjusted EUR 21.4 billion from EUR 22.3 billion a month ago.
The Bank of England decided to stand pat on rates on "Super Thursday" as widely expected, but hinted at somewhat earlier and deeper-than-expected rate hikes. The central bank raised its near-term growth projections, citing strengthening global growth, and forecast inflation to remain above 2 percent target over the forecast horizon.
The buck dropped to a low of $1.4066 against the pound sterling Thursday, but has since rebounded to around $1.3925.
UK house price balance remained stable in January and buyer enquiries continued to fall, data from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors showed Thursday. The house price balance remained at 8 percent in January, while it was forecast to drop to 5 percent.
The greenback reached an early high of Y109.781 against the Japanese Yen Thursday, but has since retreated to around Y108.890.
Japan posted a current account surplus of 797.2 billion yen in December, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday, down 28.5 percent on year. The headline figure was shy of expectations for a surplus of 1,056.9 billion yen following the 1,347.3 billion yen surplus in November.
Overall bank lending in Japan was up 2.4 percent on year in January, the Bank of Japan said on Thursday, coming in at 523.068 trillion yen. That follows the 2.5 percent increase in December.
A measure of peoples' assessment of the Japanese economy decreased more-than-expected in January to the weakest level in six months, survey figures from the Cabinet Office showed Thursday. The current index of Economy Watchers' survey dropped to 49.9 in January from 53.9 in December. Economists had expected the index to fall slightly to 53.7.
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