FOREX-Dollar gains for 2nd day, shrugs off record U.S. jobless claims

* Dollar up vs euro, Japanese yen
* U.S. jobless claims surge to record
* Norwegian crown up nearly 2% amid better dollar liquidity
* Graphic: World FX rates in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh

(Adds new comment, updates prices)
By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
NEW YORK, April 2 (Reuters) - The dollar rose for a second straight day against a basket of currencies
on Thursday as investors, worried about the prospect of a global recession, continued to take shelter in
the greenback.
"With the increase in the coronavirus impact around the world, investors are looking at the dollar as
a safe haven," said Chris Gaffney, president of World Markets, TIAA Bank in St. Louis, Missouri.
U.S. jobless claims in the latest week soared to a record level, yet the dollar's reaction was tepid
at most.
Data showed initial claims for unemployment benefits rose to 6.65 million in the latest week from an
unrevised 3.3 million the previous week. The figures far exceeded the median estimate of 3.50 million in a
Reuters survey of economists. "The order of magnitude of this data is so colossal compared to expectations that there's really no
datum to work out what the story is," said Richard Benson, co-chief investment officer at Millennium
Global Investments in London.
"It's just very, very bad. So I am not sure the market is going to trade on data surprises from that
mix."
Markets have been alarmed since U.S. President Donald Trump's warning on Tuesday of a painful two
weeks ahead in fighting the coronavirus, even with strict social distancing measures. The United States has over 200,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases - the most worldwide - which has sent
investors flocking to safe-haven assets.
Some analysts do not expect the dollar to extend its recent rally after the Federal Reserve took a
series of measures, which have begun to have an impact, to ensure an adequate global supply of the
currency. The cost of raising U.S. dollar funds in the yen and euro swaps market stabilized on Thursday, with
premiums favoring the other currencies, suggesting that greenback demand had receded from earlier in the
coronavirus pandemic EURCBS3M=ICAP JPYCBS3M=ICAP . In early afternoon trading, the dollar index was up 0.8% at 100.35 =USD .
Against the yen, the dollar rose 0.7% at 107.91 yen JPY=EBS .
The euro extended its decline, falling 1.2% to $1.0828, after hitting a one-week low EUR=EBS .
The Fed's efforts to improve dollar liquidity have boosted other currencies such as the Norwegian
crown, which advanced further on Thursday to a three-week high of 11.1820 against the euro. It was last
trading up 2% at 11.24 EURNOK=D3 .
To combat the economic slowdown from the pandemic, the Fed said on Wednesday it was temporarily easing
its leverage rules for large banks by exempting certain investments from a key leverage calculation.
Currency bid prices at 1:59PM (1759 GMT)
Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid
Previous Change
Session
Euro/Dollar EUR= $1.0827 $1.0962 -1.23% -3.42% +1.0968 +1.0827
Dollar/Yen JPY= 107.9100 107.1500 +0.71% -0.87% +108.0900 +107.0300
Euro/Yen EURJPY= 116.85 117.48 -0.54% -4.18% +117.7200 +116.3600
Dollar/Swiss CHF= 0.9743 0.9654 +0.92% +0.67% +0.9746 +0.9651
Sterling/Dollar GBP= 1.2365 1.2376 -0.09% -6.74% +1.2474 +1.2351
Dollar/Canadian CAD= 1.4193 1.4188 +0.04% +9.29% +1.4298 +1.4081
Australian/Doll AUD= 0.6035 0.6070 -0.58% -14.02% +0.6119 +0.6008
ar
Euro/Swiss EURCHF= 1.0552 1.0582 -0.28% -2.76% +1.0594 +1.0547
Euro/Sterling EURGBP= 0.8756 0.8858 -1.15% +3.57% +0.8861 +0.8757
NZ NZD= 0.5900 0.5905 -0.08% -12.41% +0.5973 +0.5882
Dollar/Dollar
Dollar/Norway NOK= 10.4217 10.4310 -0.09% +18.72% +10.4866 +10.2252
Euro/Norway EURNOK= 11.2950 11.4640 -1.47% +14.81% +11.4785 +11.1648
Dollar/Sweden SEK= 10.1430 9.9826 -0.23% +8.51% +10.1569 +9.9849
Euro/Sweden EURSEK= 10.9836 11.0085 -0.23% +4.91% +11.0163 +10.9102