WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. dollar rose against major currencies on Friday, buoyed by stronger than expected U.S. retail sales data. A drop in initial jobless claims and weak eurozone manufacturing data too contributed to the greenback's strength.
The dollar index gained about 0.5% at 97.49 at the day's high.
Against the euro, the dollar strengthened to $1.1232, up 0.57%.
The British Pound Sterling was also notably weak against the dollar. A pound was fetching $1.299, 0.4% less than previous close.
The dollar was up 0.4% against the Aussie with the pair trading at 1.2990 and was up 0.3% against the loonie at 1.3383.
Against Swiss franc, the greenback gained about 0.5%, while against Swedish Krona, it was up 0.6%.
The dollar was down slightly against the Japanese currency, with a unit fetching 112.00 yen. Earlier, it was trading at 111.76 yen.
In economic news, the Conference Board's leading economic index climbed by a more than expected 0.4% in March, after inching up by a revised 0.1% in February. Economists had expected the index to rise by 0.3% compared to the 0.2% uptick originally reported for the previous month.
A report from the Labor Department showed initial jobless claims in the U.S. unexpectedly edged lower in the week ended April 13th. The data said jobless claims dropped by 5,000 to 192,000 in the month, the lowest level since hitting 182,000 in September of 1969.
Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 205,000 from the 196,000 originally reported in the previous week.
According to a report from the Commerce Department, retail sales in the U.S. spiked by much more than expected in the month of March, soaring by 1.6%, after edging down by 0.2% in February. Economists had expected retail sales to climb by 0.9%.
Business inventories in the U.S. rose by 0.3% in February after jumping by an upwardly revised 0.9% in January.according to a report released by the Commerce Department. Economists had expected inventories to climb by 0.4 percent compared to the 0.8 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.
Meanwhile, a report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia showed the pace of growth in regional manufacturing slowed by more than anticipated in the month of April following a significant rebound in the previous month.
The Philly Fed said its index for current manufacturing activity in the region dropped to 8.5 in April after jumping to 13.7 in March.
In Eurozone news, eurozone private sector expanded at the slowest pace for the second successive month in April as manufacturing contracted and service sector growth slowed, preliminary data from the IHS Markit survey showed.
The Eurozone Composite Purchasing Managers' Index fell to a three-month low of 51.3 from 51.6 in March.
Employment growth rose slightly but remained at the lowest since 2016.
Eurozone business expectation declined for a second successive month to the lowest since January.
The manufacturing PMI rose to a two-month high of 47.8 from 47.5 in March and the services PMI hit a three-month low of 52.5 from 53.3 in March.
In the U.K., retail sales grew at a faster rate than expected in March, data from the Office for National Statistics showed. Retail sales grew 1.1% month-on-month in March, after a 0.6% rise in February.
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