WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. dollar recovered well after a weak start on Thursday, but swung between gains and losses till the end of the day as traders looked ahead to the crucial GDP data, due on Friday.
The economic data released today turned out to be a mixed bag.
The impeachment of U.S. President Donald Trump made an impact as well on the currency.
On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to impeach President Donald Trump on grounds of misusing his powers and obstructing the congressional probe into his dealings with Ukraine.
Donald Trump becomes the third US president to be impeached by the House of Representatives, after the impeachments of Bill Clinton and Andrew Johnson.
Trump will now face a Senate trial next month.
Republicans currently hold a 53 to 45 majority in the Senate, with two Democratic-leaning independents, and removing Trump from office would require a two-thirds vote in favor.
Several Senate Republicans have already indicated they will not vote to remove Trump from office even before the Senate holds its trial on the House charges.
In economic news, the Labor Department's data showed initial jobless claims pulled back in the week ended December 14th. The report said initial jobless claims fell to 234,000, a decrease of 18,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 252,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to drop to 225,000.
A report from the Federal Reserve said Philadelphia-area manufacturing activity was nearly flat in the month of December, with the bank's diffusion index for current general activity tumbling to 0.3 in December from 10.4 in November. Economists had expected the index to dip to 8.0.
With the much bigger than expected decrease, the Philly Fed Index slumped to its lowest reading in six months.
A report released by the National Association of Realtors said existing home sales tumbled by 1.7% to an annual rate of 5.35 million in November after jumping by 1.5% to a revised 5.44 million in October.
Economists had expected existing home sales to dip by 0.4% to a rate of 5.44 million from the 5.46 million originally reported for the previous month.
The Conference Board said its leading economic index was unchanged in November after dipping by 0.2% in both September and October. Economists had expected the index to inch up by 0.1%.
The dollar index, which declined to 97.22 early on in the day, rose to 97.49 by late morning, but retreated to 97.40 later on in the day, turning flat.
Against the Euro, the dollar was at $1.1122 at close, and edged down a bit to $1.1126 subsequently.
The Pound Sterling settled at $1.3010, after trading about $1.3100 earlier in the day.
The Japanese Yen strengthened to around 109.20 a dollar, from a low of 109.60 a dollar, and later eased a bit to 109.30 yen, but still held in positive territory.
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