The dollar is under pressure

The dollar is under pressure, trading lower against the major currencies.

The US dollar index is down by 0.4% at 99.86 as of 7:51 a.m. ET.

The euro has now recovered over 38% of its losses against the dollar since the US presidential election, according to Marc Chandler, global head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman.

On the data front, initial jobless claims will be out at 8:30 a.m. ET.

As for the rest of the world, here's the scoreboard as of 7:51 a.m. ET:

• The euro is up by 0.5% at 1.0806 against the dollar after the European Central Bank extended its quantitative easing programme beyond its current horizon of March 2017, noting that it will keep buying up eurozone corporate and government debt until at least December 2017. The bank also left its key interest rate unchanged.
• The Japanese yen is little changed at 113.76 per dollar. Separately, Japan's final third quarter GDP was revised sharply lower, coming in at 1.3% compared to the intitial reading of 2.4%. "Spare capacity is narrowing and we still expect the Bank of Japan to remain on hold for the foreseeable future," wrote Marcel Thieliant, senior Japan economist, at Capital Economics in a note.
• The Russian ruble is down by 0.3% at 63.4143, while Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, is up by 0.7% at $53.35 per barrel.
• The British pound is up by 0.3% at 1.2666 against the dollar.