Investing.com - The dollar rose against a basket of major currencies on Thursday after data showed that U.S. durable goods orders rose more than expected in March, pointing to underlying strength in the economy.
The Commerce Department reported that U.S. orders for long lasting manufactured goods rose 2.6% last month, ahead of expectations for a 2% gain.
Core durable goods orders, which exclude volatile transportation items, rose 2% in March, easily surpassing forecasts for a 0.6% gain.
Separately, the Labor Department said the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week rose by 24,000 to 329,000. Despite the increase the underlying trend indicated continued strength in the labor market.
EUR/USD slid 0.17% to 1.3794, off session highs of 1.3843.
The euro remained under pressure after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi reiterated warnings on Thursday that the strong euro could trigger additional monetary easing.
Speaking at a conference in Amsterdam, Draghi said the euro exchange rate is an "increasingly important factor" in monetary policy. He also said the ECB could launch a "broad-based" asset purchase program if the medium-term inflation outlook worsened.
Meanwhile, USD/JPY edged up 0.09% to 102.61, recovering from lows of 102.25.
Sterling was fractionally lower against the dollar, with GBP/USD dipping 0.06% to 1.6771, holding below the four-and-a-half year peaks of 1.6840 reached last Thursday.
The Swiss franc turned lower, with USD/CHF rising 0.21% to trade at 0.8851.
Elsewhere, NZD/USD was down 0.42% to 0.8553. The pair rose to session highs of 0.8636 earlier, after the Reserve Bank raised its benchmark interest rate to 3.0% from 2.75%, as expected.
The Australian dollar extended losses, with AUD/USD down 0.32% to 0.9259, while USD/CAD slipped 0.08% to 1.1023.
The US Dollar Index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, edged up 0.11% to 80.03, coming off lows of 79.81.