Dollar Gains Slightly, Circles Euro at $1.50

The dollar pushed back slightly Thursday, but the euro was still hovering around $1.50 as corporate results and economic data sent investors mixed signals on the U.S. economy, and some worried China might cut down on stimulus measures.

In late New York trading, the 16-nation euro dipped to $1.5026 from $1.5036 late Wednesday. It peaked at a 14-month high of $1.5046 earlier in the session.

The British pound gave back some ground, dropping to $1.6624 from $1.6631, while the dollar rose to 91.29 Japanese yen from 91.06 yen.

The euro's break above the psychologically important level of $1.50 came as a rallying stock market further sapped the U.S. currency's appeal as a safe-haven investment.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 131.95 points, or 1.3 percent, to 10,081.31 on Thursday, just shy of its highest close of the year, which it set Monday.

"The dollar will continue to weaken as investors see there's better returns to be had elsewhere," said David Gilmore of Foreign Exchange Analytics in Essex, Conn. "It's an incredibly one-way market as people have come back into a risk-taking mode."

Interest rates in many countries and the eurozone are higher than the current rock-bottom U.S. rates, providing currency traders a better return on non-dollar holdings. They're likelier to sell the dollar and buy up stocks and other currencies when they feel more confident about the state of the broader economy, which has been the general trend since spring.

"Expect positive U.S. data this week to feed into continued USD selling," wrote Michael Woolfolk, senior currency strategist at Bank of New York Mellon, in a research note.

On Thursday, a report from the Conference Board pointed at growth in the future. The private research group said its leading indicators, a measure of future economic activity, rose 1 percent in September, the sixth straight monthly gain.

But the number of Americans filing for first-time jobless aid rose more than expected as employers remain reluctant to hire. Unemployment, currently at 9.8 percent, is expected to rise above 10 percent this year or early in 2010 and remain at high levels for years.