Investing.com - The U.S. dollar rose against its rivals Thursday as stronger-than-expected wholesale inflation and jobless claims data helped ease investor concerns about a Federal Reserve interest-rate cut.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose by 0.27% to 96.82.
The Labor Department said on Tuesday its core producer price index for final demand increased 0.3% last month, above economists' forecasts for a 0.2% increase. In the 12 months through March, the core PPI rose 2.4%.
It also reported that initial jobless claims dropped by 8,000 to a seasonally adjusted 196,000 for the week ended April 7, confounding expectations for a rise.
"The (jobless claims) data add to the evidence that the trend in employment growth has not slowed significantly," HFE said in a note.
The duo of reports come a day after the Federal Reserve's minutes from its March meeting indicated that a "majority" of Fed policymakers expected the central bank to hold off on rate hikes for the remainder of the year.
The rate-sensitive USD/JPY rose 0.53% to Y111.59 as the stronger U.S. economic data lifted the United States 10-Year yield to 2.504% from 2.477% on Thursday, boosting the greenback.
GBP/USD fell 0.19% as sterling shrugged off the EU's decision to grant a delay to Brexit.
The Brexit deadline was extended from April 12 until October 31 to allow U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May more time to get her Brexit deal through parliament.
EUR/USD fell 0.15% to $1.1257 as the single currency struggled to hold gains in the wake of the European Central Bank's dovish monetary policy update on Wednesday.
USD/CAD rose 0.42% to C$1.3374 as falling oil prices weighed on the loonie.