NEW YORK, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- The dollar fell slightly against most major currencies on Thursday as investors' risk appetite picked up.

    U.S. initial claims for jobless benefits rose by 17,000 in the week ending 5 December to 474,000, the Labor Department reported. Analysts of Nomura Economic Research interpret the gain as a temporary retreat rather than a sign of worsening labor market conditions because the increase followed five weeks in which initial claims fell by 75,000.

    Four-week average of initial claims and overall number of continuing claims both fell during the week, providing further evidence that the U.S. labor market is improving gradually, at a slow pace though. Analysts continue to believe that the total number of benefit recipients is starting to level off but is not yet declining.

    The U.S. trade deficit declined 7.6 percent in October to 32.9 billion U.S. dollars as exports surged to their highest level in nearly a year, the Commerce Department said Thursday.

    The unexpected decline was mainly driven by surging export and a plunge in oil imports. Exports increased 2.5 percent to 136.8 billion dollars in October and imports rose a smaller 0.4 percent to 169.8 billion dollars.

    U.S. exports appear to be improving much faster than the domestic economy suggesting that much of the improvement seen in the manufacturing sector reflects strengthening economic conditions abroad and the impact of the weaker dollar, according to Nomura Economic Research.

    An impressive 1.1 billion dollars increase to a record 6.9 billion dollars monthly level of exports to China represents an impressive sign that China's strong economy is exerting favorable impact on producers elsewhere, Nomura analysts said.

    The euro bought 1.4720 dollars in late New York trading compared with 1.4714 dollars it bought late Wednesday. The pound rose to 1.6264 dollars from 1.6248 dollars.

    The dollar fell to 1.0504 Canadian dollars from 1.0539 Canadian dollars, and fell to 1.0266 Swiss francs from 1.0271 Swiss francs. It rose to 88.20 Japanese yen from 87.77 Japanese yen.

Special Report:  Global Financial Crisis