The dollar rallied across the board on Thursday, bolstered by an upbeat US jobless claims report that suggested a stabilising labour market in the world's largest economy. The euro, meanwhile, faltered against the dollar after two days of gains, pressured partly by a weaker-than-expected Spanish debt auction, which served as a reminder to investors that the outlook for the euro zone's weaker nations remained uncertain.
In midday trading, the dollar index rose 0.4 percent to 82.199, while the greenback climbed 0.3 percent to 99.31 yen after trading in negative territory earlier in the global session. The euro fell to session lows of $1.3083, failing to build on gains made after robust industrial data from Germany this week. It was last at $1.3103, down 0.4 percent on the day. Against the yen, the euro slipped 0.1 percent to 130.11. Sterling rose to a session high of $1.5586 against the dollar after the BoE decision, from $1.5568 beforehand. But it was last at $1.5502, down 0.2 percent, hurt by the dollar's overall strength.