WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After some early weakness, the U.S. dollar gained in strength on Thursday thanks to some upbeat economic data, including the reports on retail sales and Philadelphia area manufacturing activity.
The signing of the U.S.-China phase one trade deal helped as well.
The dollar index, which was down in negative territory at 97.09 in early trades Thursday, moved on to a high of 97.36 by mid morning and was last seen at 97.32, up 0.1% from Wednesday's close.
According to a report from the Commerce Department, retail sales in the U.S. climbed by 0.3% in December, matching the upwardly revised increase in November. Economists had expected retail sales to rise by 0.3% compared to the 0.2% uptick originally reported for the previous month.
The Philadelphia Federal Reserve also released a report showing a substantial acceleration in the pace of growth in regional manufacturing activity in the month of January.
A report from the Labor Department showed an unexpected decrease in initial jobless claims in the week ended January 11th. The report said initial jobless claims fell to 204,000, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 214,000. The drop came as a surprise to economists, who had expected jobless claims to inch up to 216,000.
Against the Euro, the dollar strengthened to $1.1137, after having dropped to $1.1174 earlier in the day. The minutes of the European Central Bank's December 11-12 policy session that revealed the central bank's policymakers were mildly optimistic regarding the euro area economic outlook pushed up euro against most major currencies in the European session.
Members broadly agreed that recent economic data and survey information pointed to a weak, yet stabilizing growth dynamics,
The pound sterling was stronger against the dollar at $1.3073, gaining from previous close of $1.3037.
The Japanese Yen weakened to 110.17 a dollar from Wednesday's close of 109.90 yen a dollar. Data from the Bank of Japan showed that Japan producer prices fell 0.1% on month in December - in line with expectations and slowing from 0.2% in November.
The dollar was up marginally against the Loonie at 1.3043, and gained about 0.1% against Swiss franc at 0.9650. Against the Aussie, the dollar was gaining marginally.
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