Investing.com - The dollar was little changed against the other major currencies on Thursday, after the release of upbeat U.S. data, as investors were still cautious ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s highly-awaited speech on Friday.
EUR/USD rose 0.20% to 1.1287.
The Commerce Department said durable goods orders rose by 4.4% last month, compared to expectations for an advance of 3.3%.
June’s orders were revised down to show a decrease of 4.2% from a previously reported 3.9% decline.
Core durable goods orders, which exclude volatile transportation items, rose 1.5% last month, compared to forecasts for a 0.5% gain.
At the same time, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending August 20 decreased by 1,000 to a five-week low of 261,000 from the previous week’s total of 262,000.
Analysts expected jobless claims to rise by 3,000 to 265,000 last week.
But the greenback remained under pressure as market participants were waiting to see if Yellen will restate the hawkish view of the economy expressed by Fed officials last week or echo the minutes of the Fed’s July meeting, which indicated that officials are divided on when to raise rates.
GBP/USD slipped 0.23% to 1.3202.
USD/JPY held steady at 100.48, while USD/CHF was little changed at 0.9669.
The Australian dollar was steady, with AUD/USD at 0.7612, while NZD/USD edged down 0.12% to 0.7303.
Elsewhere, USD/CAD added 0.11% to trade at 1.2939.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 94.69.