2018.04.2614:44:00UTC+00Dollar Climbs Against Euro After ECB Announcement

The dollar is gaining ground against the Euro Thursday afternoon, but remains little changed against its other major rivals. Traders reacted positively to a pair of better than expected U.S. economic reports this morning and the European Central Bank held firm on rates.

First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell to their lowest level in nearly five decades in the week ended April 21st, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday.

The report said initial jobless claims dropped to 209,000, a decrease of 24,000 from the previous week's revised level of 233,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to edge down to 230,000 from the 232,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Reflecting another jump in orders for transportation equipment, the Commerce Department released a report on Thursday showing a bigger than expected increase in new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods in the month of March.

The Commerce Department said durable goods orders surged up by 2.6 percent in March after spiking by an upwardly revised 3.5 percent in February. Economists had expected durable goods orders to climb by 1.6 percent compared to the 3.0 percent jump that had been reported for the previous month.

The European Central Bank left its key interest rates, asset purchases and forward guidance unchanged on Thursday, amid softening growth momentum in the euro area.

The Governing Council, led by ECB President Mario Draghi, left the key interest rates unchanged after the policy session in Frankfurt, in line with economists' expectations.

Eurozone growth momentum has softened since the start of the year, but is expected to remain solid and broad-based, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said Thursday.

"This moderation may in part reflect a pull-back from the high pace of growth observed at the end of last year, while temporary factors may also be at work," Draghi said in the introductory statement to his customary post-decision press conference in Frankfurt.

"Overall, however, growth is expected to remain solid and broad-based," he added.

The dollar has broken out to over a 3-month high of $1.21 against the Euro Thursday afternoon, from an early low of $1.2209.

German consumer sentiment is set to weaken in May due to rising insecure state of geopolitics, survey data from the market research group GfK showed Thursday. The consumer climate index dropped 0.1 point to 10.8 in May. The score came in line with expectations.

The buck climbed to over a 1-month high of $1.3894 against the pound sterling Thursday morning, but has since retreated to around $1.3925.

UK mortgage approvals declined to a 3-month low in March, data from UK Finance showed Thursday. The number of loans approved for house purchases fell to a seasonally adjusted 37,567 in March from 38,035 in February. This was the lowest level seen since December. It was forecast to ease to 37,150.

The greenback slipped to a low of Y109.062 against the Japanese Yen Thursday, but has since rebounded to around Y109.385.