FOREX-Dollar climbs to 3-week peak; U.S. jobs data shrugged off

* U.S. jobless claims fall from last week
* Trump rips into China over handling of coronavirus
* Graphic on world forex rates:http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh

(Adds new comment, U.S. data, FX table, updates prices, changes byline, dateline; previous LONDON)
By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
NEW YORK, May 14 (Reuters) - The dollar rose to a three-week high on Thursday, as stock markets
weakened broadly after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell dismissed speculation over U.S. interest
rates entering negative territory.
European stock markets fell, and U.S. stocks were also down, the third consecutive session of losses
and sending investors to the relative safety of the greenback.
Comments from top U.S. infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci earlier this week, warning about the
premature lifting of lockdowns that could lead to additional outbreaks of the deadly novel coronavirus,
also dented market sentiment, analysts said.
"This whole week has been fairly risk off. There's a lot of factors to point to, from Powell, to
Fauci, to Trump," said John Doyle, vice president of dealing and trading, at Tempus Inc. in Washington.
"Still, the dollar is king when this happens," he added.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said he was disappointed with China over its failure to
contain the coronavirus, and that the pandemic cast a pall over his U.S.-China trade deal. His comments stoked concerns about renewed U.S.-China trade tensions.
Against a basket of its rivals =USD , the dollar was up 0.3% at 100.41, hitting a three-week high of
100.56 earlier in the session.
Though Powell was the latest in a parade of policymakers to brush off the notion that rates may go
negative, Fed futures 0#FF: were pricing a small chance of sub-zero U.S. rates by May next year.
Powell said the recovery could take some time as he warned of a recession worse than any since World
War Two.
"His words were a blow to the optimism that had been building in the markets over the last few weeks
as the relaxation of social distancing restrictions had generated expectations of a V-shaped recovery from
the virus crisis," said Raffi Boyadjian, senior investment analyst at XM.
Data showing millions more Americans, including white-collar workers, filed for unemployment benefits
last week only cemented bids on the dollar.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits totaled a seasonally adjusted 2.981 million for the
week ended May 9. That was down from 3.176 million in the prior week and marked the sixth straight weekly
drop. The euro was down 0.2% against the dollar at $1.0793 EUR=EBS .
The Australian dollar fell sharply after data showed the country shed jobs in April at the fastest
pace on record, suggesting more monetary and fiscal easing may be needed to support the economy. The
Aussie dollar was last down 0.4% at US$0.6430 AUD=D3 .
The pound GBP=D3 also tumbled below the $1.22 line for the first time in more than five weeks after
Wednesday's data showed Britain's economy shrank by a record 5.8% in March as the coronavirus crisis
escalated. Currency bid prices at 10:28AM (1428 GMT)
Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid
Previous Change
Session
Euro/Dollar EUR= $1.0809 $1.0816 -0.06% -3.58% +1.0824 +1.0776
Dollar/Yen JPY= 106.9000 107.0200 -0.11% -1.80% +107.1000 +106.7800
Euro/Yen EURJPY= 115.58 115.77 -0.16% -5.22% +115.8600 +115.3400
Dollar/Swiss CHF= 0.9718 0.9719 -0.01% +0.41% +0.9755 +0.9714
Sterling/Dollar GBP= 1.2204 1.2229 -0.20% -7.96% +1.2241 +1.2167
Dollar/Canadian CAD= 1.4102 1.4099 +0.02% +8.59% +1.4139 +1.4069
Australian/Doll AUD= 0.6431 0.6454 -0.36% -8.40% +0.6467 +0.6405
ar
Euro/Swiss EURCHF= 1.0507 1.0517 -0.10% -3.18% +1.0521 +1.0506
Euro/Sterling EURGBP= 0.8854 0.8842 +0.14% +4.73% +0.8870 +0.8832
NZ NZD= 0.5980 0.5990 -0.17% -11.22% +0.6003 +0.5958
Dollar/Dollar
Dollar/Norway NOK= 10.2203 10.1643 +0.55% +16.43% +10.2722 +10.1533
Euro/Norway EURNOK= 11.0490 11.0000 +0.45% +12.31% +11.0792 +10.9870
Dollar/Sweden SEK= 9.8428 9.8082 +0.21% +5.30% +9.8938 +9.8089
Euro/Sweden EURSEK= 10.6389 10.6161 +0.21% +1.62% +10.6640 +10.6164