Investing.com - The dollar held onto modest gains against other major currencies on Thursday, after the release of mixed U.S. economic reports and as investors eyed a key vote on U.S. President Donald Trump’s healthcare bill scheduled later in the day.
EUR/USD slipped 0.18% to 1.0777, pulling away from Wednesday’s six-week high of 1.0825.
The U.S. Commerce Department said new home sales rose by 6.1% to 592,000 units in February from January’s revised reading of 558,000. That was its highest level since July 2016.
Analysts had expected a 0.7% increase to 565,000 units in February.
The report came after the U.S. Department of Labor said initial jobless claims increased by 15,000 to 258,000 in the week ending March 18 from the previous week’s revised total of 243,000.
Analysts had expected jobless claims to drop by 1,000 to 240,000 last week.
Meanwhile, market participants were concerned about Trump’s ability to gather enough support for his healthcare bill – set to replace Obamacare and one of his key campaign pledges.
Elsewhere, GBP/USD added 0.18% to 1.2509, just off a one-month peak of 1.2528 hit earlier in the session after the U.K. Office for National Statistics said retail sales increased by 1.4% in February, compared to expectations for a 0.4% rise.
Year-on-year, retail sales climbed 3.7% last month, compared to forecasts for a 2.6% gain.
Core retail sales, which exclude automobile sales and fuel, increased by 1.3% in February, confounding expectations for a 0.4% rise.
USD/JPY held steady at 111.21, still close to a four-month low of 110.73 hit on Wednesday, while USD/CHF edged up 0.17% to 0.9930.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were weaker, with AUD/USD down 0.52% at 0.7638 and with NZD/USD falling 0.10% to 0.7037.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD eased up 0.09% to trade at 1.3340.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.18% at 99.63, still close to the previous session’s six-week low of 99.34.