The dollar is ticking up

The US dollar index was up by 0.5% at 94.06 at 8:18 a.m. ET.

Initial claims, which count the number of people who applied for unemployment insurance for the first time, rose to 233,000.

Economists forecast that claims would rise to 235,000 from the prior week's upwardly revised reading of 223,000.

As for the rest of the world, here was the scoreboard at 8:19 a.m. ET:

• The euro was down by 0.5% at 1.1753 against the dollar after the European Central Bank announced it will reduce its bond-buying to €30 billion per month, down from the current level of €60 billion per month starting in January 2018, as was widely expected.
• The British pound was down by 0.5% at 1.3196 against the dollar.
• The Russian ruble was little changed at 57.6801 per dollar, while Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, was down by 0.2% at $58.34 per barrel.
• The Japanese yen was little changed at 113.83 per dollar.
• The Indian rupee was down by 0.2% at 64.860 per dollar.

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