• EUR/USD is trading with a gentle negative bias to around 1.0415 during Friday’s Asian session.
• Last week, U.S. jobless claims fell to their lowest level in a month.
• The ECB’s dovish attitude may weigh on the euro in the near future.

During Friday’s Asian session, the EUR/USD pair falls to around 1.0415. Trading volume is low as many traders go on vacation before the New Year. Later Friday, the preliminary reading of the US goods trade balance for November will be published.

Data released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Labor showed that weekly unemployment claims fell last week to their lowest level in a month. The number of Americans filing up-to-date claims for unemployment benefits fell to 219,000 in the week ending December 21, down from 220,000 the previous week. This reading was below the market consensus of 224,000.

Meanwhile, the US Dollar Index (DXY) was last up 0.02% at 108.10, staying below a two-year high reached on Friday. The Federal Reserve (Fed) has signaled a slower pace of interest rate cuts next year compared to the past few months, which could strengthen the dollar.

On the other side of the ocean, Boris Vujcic, a member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB), said last week that the central bank would likely cut borrowing costs again if incoming data was in line with its projections. The ECB has cut interest rates four times this year, raising the deposit rate to 3.0%. Analysts expect policymakers to continue such quarter-point moves until they reach 2.0% in June. This, in turn, could cause the common currency to fall against the US dollar.