Investing.com - The dollar was almost unchanged against the euro on Thursday after strong data on U.S. durable goods orders bolstered the outlook for the broader recovery, while dovish comments by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi weighed on the euro.
EUR/USD was trading at 1.3821, after falling to lows of 1.3792 earlier in the session.
The pair touched session lows after the Commerce Department reported that U.S. orders for long lasting manufactured goods rose 2.6% in March, ahead of expectations for a 2% gain.
Core durable goods orders, which exclude volatile transportation items, rose 2% last month, easily surpassing forecasts for a 0.6% gain.
Separately, the Labor Department said the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. in the week ending April 19 rose by 24,000 to 329,000. Analysts had expected an increase of 5,000.
Despite the increase, the underlying trend pointed to underlying strength in the labor market.
The euro backed off highs against the dollar earlier after ECB President Mario Draghi reiterated warnings that the strong euro could trigger further monetary easing.
Speaking at a conference in Amsterdam, Draghi said the euro exchange rate is an "increasingly important factor" in monetary policy. The exchange rate is not a policy target in itself, the ECB chief said, but the bank’s monetary policy stance could be affected by a continued appreciation in the currency.
He also said the ECB could launch a "broad-based" asset purchase program if the medium-term inflation outlook deteriorated.
Meanwhile, USD/JPY was down 0.26% to 102.27, holding above session lows of 102.09.
Sterling pushed higher against the dollar, with GBP/USD easing up 0.11% to 1.6800, not far from the four-and-a-half year peaks of 1.6840 reached last Thursday.
The Swiss franc was slightly higher, with USD/CHF slipping 0.12% to trade at 0.8821.
Elsewhere, NZD/USD was down 0.27% to 0.8566. The pair rose to session highs of 0.8636 earlier, after the Reserve Bank raised its benchmark interest rate to 3.0% from 2.75%, in a widely anticipated decision.
The Australian dollar was weaker, with AUD/USD down 0.24% to 0.9267, while USD/CAD dipped 0.05% to 1.1027.
The US Dollar Index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, edged down 0.09% to 79.88.