US dollar climbs amid economic data

New York, May 22 (IANS) The US dollar rose in late trading on Thursday as market participants digested a slew of economic data.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was up 0.24 per cent to 99.3670.

In late New York trading, the euro decreased to $1.0955 from $1.0984 in the previous session, and the British pound was up to $1.2235 from $1.2230 in the previous session. The Australian dollar fell to $0.6564 from $0.6600, Xinhua reported.

The US dollar bought 107.58 Japanese yen, higher than 107.48 Japanese yen of the previous session. The US dollar rose to 0.9701 Swiss franc from 0.9647 Swiss franc, and it rose to 1.3947 Canadian dollars from 1.3891 Canadian dollars.

On the data front, US initial jobless claims, a rough way to measure layoffs, came in at 2.438 million in the week ending May 16, the Department of Labor reported on Thursday.

Over the past nine weeks, more than 38 million Americans have filed unemployment insurance claims, as the economy continues to reel from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, US private sector firms reported a slightly slower rate of contraction of activity in May, as the economy began to reopen, London-based global information provider IHS Markit said on Thursday.

The IHS Markit Flash US Composite PMI (Purchasing Managers’ Index) Output Index posted 36.4 in May, up from 27.0 in April.

–IANS

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