Investing.com - Better-than-expected reports on U.S. jobless claims and industrial production sent the dollar firming against most main currencies on Thursday.
In U.S. trading on Thursday, EUR/USD was down 0.24% at 1.2804.
The U.S. Department of Labor reported earlier that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending Oct. 11 fell by 23,000 to 264,000 from the previous week’s total of 287,000.
Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by 3,000 to 290,000 last week, and the upbeat report bolstered the dollar by fueling hopes that the U.S. economy continues to recover despite potholes here and there.
On Wednesday, the dollar fell on soft U.S. retail sales and wholesale pricing reports.
Elsewhere on Thursday, data revealed that U.S. industrial production climbed 1.0% last month, beating expectations for a 0.4% rise. The August figure was revised to a 0.2% slip from a previously estimated 0.1% downtick.
In addition, the Federal Reserve of Philadelphia said its manufacturing index fell to 20.7 this month from a reading of 22.5 in September. Analysts had expected the index to decline to 20.0 in October.
The greenback also saw support after U.S. President Barack Obama said on Wednesday that the country's Center for Disease Control and Prevention would send rapid response teams to any new suspected Ebola cases in the U.S.
Mr. Obama's comments came after the infection of a second Texas healthcare worker.
Meanwhile in the euro zone, revised data earlier showed that the continent's consumer price index remained at 0.3% in September, in line with expectations.
Core CPI, which excludes food, energy, alcohol, and tobacco, ticked up to 0.8% last month from an initial estimate of 0.7%.
Still, European Central Bank officials have said they will do whatever necessary to steer the continent away from deflationary decline, comments the bolstered the greenback over the single currency on Thursday, especially as euro zone periphery bond yields dipped.
The dollar was up against the yen, with USD/JPY up 0.29% at 106.22, and up against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF up 0.29% at 0.9430.
The greenback was down against the pound, with GBP/USD up 0.30% at 1.6067.
The dollar was up against its cousins in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with USD/CAD up 0.06% at 1.1257, AUD/USD down 0.75% at 0.8764 and NZD/USD down 0.48% at 0.7948.
In New Zealand earlier, data revealed that the country's Business Manufacturing Index rose to a 13-month high of 58.1 in September from 57.0 in August, whose figure was revised up from a previously estimated reading of 56.5.
Meanwhile, Statistics Canada reported that manufacturing sales declined by 3.3% in August compared to expectations for a 2.0% fall. July's figure was revised to an increase of 2.9% from a previously estimated 2.5% rise.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.22% at 85.05.
On Friday, the U.S. is to round up the week with reports on building permits and housing starts, as well as a preliminary report on consumer sentiment.