WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. dollar rose fairly sharply against its peers but gave up some gains after crude oil prices skyrocketed amid reports the price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia will likely end sometime soon.
Data showing a sharp surge in U.S. unemployment claims for a second straight week due to the coronavirus pandemic also made on impact on the currency's movements.
The dollar index rose to a high of 100.41, but later dropped to around 100.10. However, it was still up by about 0.4% from previous close.
Against the Euro, the dollar firmed up to $1.0821, and despite easing to $1.0859 later, was still nearly 1% up from Wednesday's level.
The Pound Sterling gained against the dollar with a unit of sterling fetching $1.2410, compared to $1.2366 yesterday.
Against the Japanese Yen, the dollar gained more than 0.6% at 107.85 yen.
Against Swiss franc, the dollar was up nearly 0.8% as 0.9735.
The Aussie was little changed at 0.6067, while the Loonie was gaining nearly 0.3% at C$1.4138 a dollar.
A sharp 25% jump in crude oil prices contributed to dollar's weakness against the Aussie and the Loonie.
In economic news from the U.S.,data from the Labor Department said initial jobless claims skyrocketed to 6.648 million, an increase of 3.341 million from the previous week's revised level of 3.307 million.
In the past two weeks, nearly 10 million people have filed for unemployment, which economists say translates to an unemployment rate of about 10%.
A report from the Commerce Department showed the U.S. trade deficit narrowed to $39.9 billion in February from a revised $45.5 billion in January. Economists had expected the deficit to narrow to $40.0 billion from the $45.3 billion originally reported for the previous month. Imports plunged by 2.5%, while exports declined by 0.4%.
Another report released by the Commerce Department showed new orders for U.S. manufactured goods were virtually unchanged in the month of February. The report said factory orders edged down by less than a tenth of a percent to $497.4 billion in February after falling by 0.5% to $497.5 billion in January. Economists had expected orders to rise by 0.2%.
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