US dollar climbs amid economic data

The US dollar climbed in late trading on Thursday as market participants pored through a slew of newly-released data. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was up 0.27 per cent at 96.3457.

In late New York trading, the euro decreased to $1.1378 from $1.1405 in the previous session, and the British pound fell to $1.2546 from $1.2580 in the previous session, Xinhua reported.

The Australian dollar fell to $0.6967 from $0.6998.

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The US dollar bought 107.37 Japanese yen, higher than 106.95 Japanese yen of the previous session.

The US dollar decreased to 0.9448 Swiss franc from 0.9455 Swiss franc, and it was up to 1.3573 Canadian dollars from 1.3508 Canadian dollars.

On the data front, US initial jobless claims, a rough way to measure layoffs, came in at 1.3 million in the week ending July 11, following a revised 1.31 million in the prior week, the Department of Labor reported on Thursday. Economists polled by MarketWatch had forecast 1.24 million new claims.

US retail sales, according to the Commerce Department, climbed 7.5 per cent in June, exceeding market expectations.