WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. dollar turned in a sluggish performance against its peers on Thursday with traders reacting to a slew of economic data, and continuing to track updates about the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
Riskier currencies firmed as worries about the new virus variant eased a bit. Separate studies have indicated the new strain poses a lower risk of severe disease and hospitalization than the Delta variant.
However, the World Health Organization and some experts have cautioned that it is too early to draw conclusions on the Omicron variant's severity.
Data released by the Labor Department showed initial jobless claims came in flat in the week ended December 18th, unchanged from the previous week's revised level of 205,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to edge down to 205,000 from the 206,000 originally reported for the previous week.
A separate report released by the Commerce Department showed new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods surged up by 2.5% in November following a revised 0.1% uptick in October. Economists expected durable goods orders to jump by 1.6% compared to the 0.4% drop that had been reported for the previous month.
Another report from the Commerce Department showed the annual rate of core consumer price growth accelerated to 4.7% in November from 4.2% in October. Economists expected growth to increase to 4.5%.
Meanwhile, the White House said that Democrats will continue negotiations with Senator Joe Manchin on the Build Back Better Act with a vote planned in early 2022.
President Joe Biden insisted that he wanted to 'get something done' on the plan targeting social benefits and climate change.
The dollar index, which climbed to 96.28 on some buoyant U.S. economic data, dropped to 95.99 about an hour past noon, and stayed weak thereafter. It is trading at 96.05, down marginally from the previous close.
Against the Euro, the dollar is flat at $1.1326, after having firmed to $1.1291 earlier in the day, and against Pound Sterling, it is trading at $1.3416 against Pound Sterling, down nearly 0.5% from Wednesday's close.
The dollar is trading at 114.41 yen, gaining from 114.12. Against the Aussie, the dollar is at 0.7243, down from 0.7214.
The Swiss franc, at 0.9183 a dollar, is up from the previous close of 0.9198, while the Loonie is trading at C$1.2807 a dollar, rising from C$1.2836.
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