Investing.com - The dollar continued to rise against the other major currencies on Thursday, although gains were expected to remain capped by mostly negative U.S. data and the Federal Reserve’s most recent policy statement.
The U.S. Department of Labor said initial jobless claims in the week ending July 22 rose by 10,000 to 244,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 234,000. Analysts expected jobless claims to rise by 7,000 to 241,000 last week.
Separately, the Commerce Department said durable goods orders jumped by 6.5% last month, blowing past forecasts for a rise of 3.0%.
However, core durable goods orders, which exclude volatile transportation items, increased by 0.2% in June, missing expectations for a gain of 0.4%.
The dollar weakened broadly after the Fed said on Wednesday that inflation remains below its 2% target even as near-term risks to the economic outlook appear “roughly balanced.” In the past, the Fed judged that weakness in inflation was transitory.
The central bank’s cautious tone on inflation sparked fresh uncertainty over the possibility of a third rate hike this year.
The Fed also said it expected to start shrinking its balance sheet "relatively soon", prompting expectations for an announcement in September.
EUR/USD dropped 0.41% to 1.1683, pulling away from a two-and-a-half year high of 1.1777 hit overnight.
Elsewhere, GBP/USD slipped 0.14% to 1.3098.
USD/JPY rose 0.29% to 111.50, while USD/CHF jumped 1.25% to trade at 0.9626.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars turned lower, pulling away from 26-month highs, with AUD/USD down 0.25% at 0.7985 and with NZD/USD shedding 0.19% to 0.7505.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD gained 0.32% to trade at 1.2485, easing off the previous session’s 14-month trough of 1.2415.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.51% at 93.77, off a fresh 13-month low of 93.00 hit overnight.