During the trading session on Thursday, the US dollar fell, as investors looked for safer investments and more concern about the actual value of the US dollar took hold.

US Dollar

During the current trading session on Thursday, the US dollar fell significant throughout the day's trading. By the middle of the afternoon trading session, the US dollar managed to fall to the lowest levels it has seen since January 19th against the Swiss franc. It also fell against the yen during the day's trading. Both of these currencies are seen more favorably in terms of their strength in periods of economic concern.

Investors are concerned that the dragging US economy will in some way pull down the rest of the world's economies. Further, investors are concerned about the risk of the Federal Reserve stepping into the picture by proposing additional fiscal moves that could further hold back the value of the dollar. Fed Chairman Ben Bermanke is scheduled to have a meeting during the Friday trading session. This annual meeting includes a speech that is likely to give investors some direction.

US jobless claims coming in during the session showed that the number of people that are filing new claims for unemployment fell last week, to a number lower than what was expected by economists. However, the level of unemployment still remains at a significantly high level.

Canadian Dollar, Australian Dollar and New Zealand Dollar

During the trading session, the currencies commonly known as higher yielding currencies, which include the Canadian dollar, Australian dollar and the New Zealand dollar, all improved against the US dollar. However, in late morning trading in New York, the US equities markets fell to losing territory, pushing these currencies down from some of their gains in the earlier portion of the day. 

UK Pound

Also notable during the Thursday trading session was gains by the UK pound. The pound managed to improved against the US dollar by the afternoon session in New York. It did so because of reports out indicating strong UK retail sales. Those sales rose to above a three year high in the month of August. 

Euro

The euro did manage to rise during the day. Rallies that occurred in the European and Asian markets during the day, plus information out of Germany that showed positive growth in consumer sentiment helped this to occur. In addition, the Irish government debt auction was successful, which helped to show that European financials may be improving.

By The Numbers

By the afternoon trading session in New York, the euro moved from US $1.2655 to US $1.2703. The euro moved from Y 107.20 to Y 107.58. The US dollar moved from Y 84.78 to Y 84.69. The US dollar moved to CHF 1.0252, which is an improvement from the seven month low that the currency hit. The UK pound moved from US $1.5536 to US $1.5536. The ICE Dollar Index moved the US dollar from 83.275 to 82.956.