Investing.com - The dollar remained moderately lower against a basket of other major currencies on Thursday, after mostly positive U.S. economic reports as the Federal Reserve's latest policy statement continued to weigh on the greenback.
The Department of Labor reported that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending April 25 fell by 34,000 to a 15-year low 262,000 from the previous week’s total of 296,000. Analysts had expected initial jobless claims to fall by 6,000 to 290,000 last week.
Separately, the Commerce Department said that U.S. personal spending inched up 0.4% last month, below expectations for a gain of 0.5%. Personal spending rose 0.2% in February.
The report also showed personal income was flat in March, missing forecasts for a 0.2% increase and after gaining 0.4% in February.
In addition, market research group Kingsbury International said its Chicago purchasing managers’ index improved by 6.0 points to 52.3 this month from a reading of 46.3 in March. Analysts had expected the index to rise to 50.0 in April.
The U.S. dollar had weakened after the Federal Reserve on Wednesday cited weakness in the U.S. economy and said it will take into account labor market conditions, inflationary pressures and expectations of international financial developments to decide on the timing of a rate increase.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.13% to 95.17, up from the session's two-month low of 94.48.
EUR/USD gained 0.40% to 1.1173, just under nine-week highs of 1.1249 hit earlier in the day.
The single currency strengthened after data showed that the euro zone's consumer price inflation was flat this month, compared to expectations for a decline of 0.1% and following a drop of 0.1% in March.
The rate has now been below 1% for 18 straight months, well under the European Central Bank's target of near but just under 2%.
A separate report showed that the bloc's unemployment rate held steady at 11.3% last month, the lowest level since June 2012. Analysts had expected the jobless rate to fall to 11.2% in March.
The pound remained lower, with GBP/USD down 0.66% to 1.5337.
Elsewhere, the dollar was higher against the yen, with USD/JPY up 0.37% to 119.46 and steady against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF at 0.9389, near two-month lows of 0.9328 hit earlier in the session.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were sharply lower, with AUD/USD tumbling 1.54% to 0.7884 and NZD/USD declining 0.99% to 0.7611.
The kiwi came under pressure after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand held its benchmark interest rate at 3.50% but said it could lower borrowing costs in the future.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD climbed 0.52% to trade at 1.2083 after data showed that Canada's economy stagnated in February, compared to expectations for a 0.1% contraction and after the country's gross domestic product was revised to a 0.2% fall the previous month.