Investing.com - The dollar rose to three-week highs against the euro on Thursday after the release of upbeat U.S. economic data, while the New Zealand dollar rallied to two-and-a-half year highs after strong trade data boosted the outlook for growth.
EUR/USD hit lows of 1.3728, the weakest since March 6 and was last down 0.38% to 1.3731.
The single currency remained under pressure after European Central Bank officials indicated earlier in the week that they are considering fresh policy options to stave off the risk of deflation in the region.
In the U.S., data released on Thursday showed that U.S. jobless claims fell to the lowest level since late November last week, while another report showed that U.S. fourth quarter growth was revised higher.
Official data showed that U.S. gross domestic product was revised up to 2.6% in the final three months of 2013, from a preliminary estimate of 2.4%. Market expectations had been for an upward revision to 2.7%.
The report showed that personal spending was revised up to 3.3% from 2.6% initially, the fastest rate of growth in three years.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the number of people who filed for initial jobless benefits in the U.S. last week declined by 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 311,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 321,000. Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by 4,000.
The upbeat data added to hopes that the slowdown in economic activity seen at the start of the year would be temporary.
However, a separate report showed that pending home sales in the U.S. fell to a more than two year low in February, underlining concerns over the housing sector.
Elsewhere, USD/JPY edged up 0.08% to 102.13 and USD/CHF rose 0.23% to 0.8869.
The pound rose to more than one-week highs against the dollar, with GBP/USD advancing 0.21% to 1.6614 after data showing that U.K. retail sales jumped in February underlined optamism over the rapid economic recovery.
The Office for National Statistics said U.K. retail sales rose 1.7% in February; recouping most of January’s 2.0% decline, and were 3.7% higher from a year earlier.
Market expectations had been for a 0.5% increase on the month and an annual gain of 2.5%.
NZD/USD rallied 0.94% to 0.8670 after data on Thursday showed that New Zealand’s trade surplus rose sharply in February.
The kiwi received an additional boost after the country’s central bank deputy governor indicated that the bank could remove measures to cool the housing market, which would allow inflation to rise.
The Australian dollar rose to fresh four-month highs, with AUD/USD climbing 0.34% to 0.9256, while USD/CAD was down 0.35% to 1.1061.
The US Dollar Index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.22% to 80.33.