WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. dollar stayed fairly steady against its major counterparts on Thursday as traders digested the data on U.S. personal consumption expenditure, jobless claims report, pending home sales and Chicago-area business activity readings.
Also in focus were inflation data from Germany and France, and industrial production and retail reports from Japan.
Data from the Commerce Department showed consumer prices rose by 0.3% in January after inching up by a revised 0.1% in December. Economists had expected consumer prices to rise by 0.3% compared to the 0.2% increase originally reported for the previous month.
Excluding food and energy prices, core consumer prices climbed by 0.4% in January after edging up by a revised 0.1% in December.
Meanwhile, the report said the annual rate of consumer price growth slowed to 2.4% in January from 2.6% in December. The annual rate of core consumer price growth also slowed to 2.8% in January from 2.9% in December, in line with estimates.
The inflation readings are said to be favored by the Federal Reserve, and the data generated some optimism about the outlook for interest rates.
Data from the Labor Department showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose by more than expected in the week ended February 24th, rising to 215,000, an increase of 13,000 from the previous week's revised level of 202,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 210,000 from the 201,000 originally reported for the previous week.
The dollar index, which dropped to 103.66, recovered to 104.18, gaining about 0.2%.
Against the Euro, the dollar firmed to 1.0807 from 1.0858, and against Pound Sterling, it strengthened to 1.2624. The dollar weakened against the Japanese currency, fetching 149.96 yen a unit, compared to 150.70 yen a unit on Wednesday.
The dollar was flat against the Aussie at 0.6496 a little while ago, after having weakened to 0.6532 earlier in the day. Against Swiss franc, the dollar was notably higher at CHF 0.8844. The dollar was slightly against the Loonie at C$ 1.3581.
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