Investing.com - The dollar rose to session highs against the yen on Thursday after data showed that U.S. jobless claims fell to the lowest level since late November last week, while another report showed that U.S. economic fourth quarter growth was revised higher.
USD/JPY touched highs of 102.43 and was last up 0.21% to 102.26.
The pair was likely to find support at 101.86, Wednesday’s low and resistance at 102.63, Monday’s high.
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.
Separately, 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.
The euro lower against the dollar with EUR/USD last down 0.16% to 1.3763, after falling to three-week lows of 1.3741 earlier.
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 euro zone.