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At 8:30 am ET, the Labor Department will issue its weekly initial jobless claims. While the weekly data tends to be volatile, investors look to the report as an easy way to gauge the strength of the job market. Initial jobless claims declined by 53,000 to 357,000 in the week ending April 5th. Economists expect initial claims to move back up to 375,000.

Investors may also look to the Conference Board`s index of leading indicators for March along with the results of the Philadelphia Federal Reserve`s Philly Fed Survey.

At 9:45 am, Federal Reserve Governor and FOMC voting member Donald Kohn will speak in the morning about banking at a Richmond Fed symposium in Charlotte, North Carolina. At 2 pm Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher, who is also a FOMC voting member, will address the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. Later in the day, Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker will speak to the media at a credit conference in Charolotte, NC.

The dollar slipped to a fresh record low of 1.5983 against the euro in early dealing Thursday morning, extending its steep declines from the previous session on speculation that the interest rate gap between the US and euro zone will widen further. However, the dollar stormed back to the upside at around 6:30 am ET to trade at 1.5912.

Traders considered data showing that Euro zone trade balance with the rest of the world showed a surplus of EUR0.8 billion in February, the Eurostat revealed Thursday. The trade deficit totaled EUR11 billion in January and EUR1.6 billion in February 2007.

The dollar spiked higher versus the yen Thursday morning amid increased risk appetite, rising to 102.47 from an early low near 101.70. With the advance, the dollar moved to a weekly high. The buck has stabilized since hitting a 12-year low of 95.70 a month ago.

Japanese industrial production growth for February was upwardly revised, a final report from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed Thursday. The government revised the base year for calculations to 2005 from 2000. The Ministry changes the base year in every five years.

After the Ministry revised its base year, industrial production rose by a seasonally adjusted 1.6% month-on-month in February, revised up from 0.9%. February`s growth reversed a 0.5% decline in January calculated under new series. On an annual basis, industrial output grew 5.1%.

The dollar fell sharply against the sterling in early dealing Thursday morning, but was able to quickly pare a portion of its losses. The greenback fell to 1.9821 before rebounding to 1.9780 approaching mid-morning. Still, the buck was down from its overnight level near 1.97.

The dollar jumped back above par versus the Swiss franc after falling sharply in the previous session. The dollar rose to 1.004 by 7 am ET, up from an early low of .9960.