Investing.com - The dollar was little changed against the other major currencies on Thursday, after the release of mixed U.S. economic reports, as comments by Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen continued to support.
USD/JPY slipped 0.16% to 101.52, off Wednesday’s one week highs of 101.78.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said that its manufacturing index improved to a more than three-year high of 23.9 this month from June’s reading of 17.8. Analysts had expected the index to dip to 16.0 in July.
The data came after the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending July 12 declined by 3,000 to 302,000 from the previous week’s total of 305,000.
Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by 5,000 to 310,000 last week.
Separately, the U.S. Commerce Department said that the number of building permits issued last month fell by 4.2% to 963,000 units from May’s total of 991,000. Analysts expected building permits to rise by 4.2% to 1.04 million units in June.
The dollar had found support after Ms. Yellen said Tuesday that rates could rise sooner if the economic recovery continued to improve. However, the Fed chair also said that if the recovery was disappointing monetary policy would remain accommodative.
USD/CHF eased 0.01% to 0.8981, coming off Wednesday’s highs of 0.8988.
The euro remained near one-month lows against the dollar, with EUR/USD at 1.3524 as the divergence on monetary policy between the European Central Bank and other central banks pressured the single currency lower.
ECB President Mario Draghi said earlier this week that large scale asset purchases are “squarely” within its mandate. The remarks were the latest indication that the central bank is open to further monetary easing measures to stave off the risk of deflation in the euro area.
Earlier Thursday, Eurostat said consumer price inflation rose 0.5% last month, in line with expectations and unchanged from a preliminary estimate. Euro zone inflation rose by 0.5% in May.
The rate remains firmly below the European Central Bank's target of near but just below 2%.
The pound slipped lower, with GBP/USD down 0.22% to 1.7100, down from a nearly six-year high of 1.7190 struck on Tuesday.
AUD/USD edged up 0.11% to 0.9378, while NZD/USD was down 0.31% to three week lows of 0.8685.
The Canadian dollar edged higher, with USD/CAD adding 0.13% to 1.0756 after the Bank of Canada left rates on hold on Wednesday and said the future path of monetary policy would be data dependent.
The US Dollar Index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.01% to 80.62, not far from Wednesday's one month highs of 80.66.