Dollar rises amid economic data

New York: The US dollar rose in late trading on Thursday as investors digested the latest economic data.

US initial jobless claims, a rough way to measure layoffs, registered 2,10,000 for the week ending February 15, an increase of 4,000 from the previous week's revised level, the Department of Labor reported on Thursday. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 2,05,000 to 2,06,000.

The Leading Economic Index for the US increased 0.8 per cent in January to 112.1, following a 0.3 per cent decline in December and a 0.1 per cent increase in November, said New York-based The Conference Board.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, increased 0.16 per cent at 99.8641 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro decreased to $1.0789 from $1.0796 in the previous session, and the British pound was down to $1.2880 from $1.2918 in the previous session. The Australian dollar decreased to 0.6614 dollars from $0.6673.

The US dollar bought 112.04 Japanese yen, higher than 111.57 Japanese yen of the previous session. The dollar decreased to 0.9840 Swiss franc from 0.9843 Swiss franc, and it was up to 1.3262 Canadian dollars from 1.3226 Canadian dollars.