Wall Street shares closed near the flatline Wednesday but managed to edge further into record territory.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed higher, at an all-time high, and notching a four-day winning streak.
The S&P 500 set all-time intraday highs, along with the Dow shortly after the open, and closed barely above its opening price. The Nasdaq composite lagged, closing about 17 points lower.
The yen slipped from its early gains in Asia on Thursday, while sterling pushed higher but remained capped ahead of a Bank of England meeting that is expected to deliver an easing to blunt the economic fallout of Britain's vote to leave the European Union. The BoE is expected to deliver a 25 basis point cut on Thursday.
On Wednesday Theresa May was appointed as Britain's new prime minister. This alleviated some market participants' fears about political chaos in the wake of last month's Brexit vote, and pushed sterling further off its 31-year low of 1.2798 plumbed earlier this month. But many economists say the UK could still slip back into recession.
GBP/USD added almost 1 percent to 1.3238, rising off a session low of 1.3105. USD/JPY was up more than a percentage point above 105. EUR/JPY rose above 117 while against the dollar, the common currency added 0.2 percent to 1.1120.
