The dollar is trading modestly higher against all of its major rivals Thursday afternoon. Better than expected weekly jobless claims and GDP data has overshadowed the weaker than expected pending home sales report.
Primarily reflecting upward revisions to non-residential fixed investment, private inventory investment, and exports, the Commerce Department released a report on Thursday showing that U.S. gross domestic product increased by more than previously estimated in the second quarter.
The report said second quarter GDP climbed by 1.4 percent compared to the previously reported 1.1 percent increase. Economists had expected the pace of GDP growth to be upwardly revised to 1.3 percent.
First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose by less than expected in the week ended September 24th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday. The report said initial jobless claims edged up to 254,000, an increase of 3,000 from the previous week's revised level of 251,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to climb to 260,000 from the 252,000 originally reported for the previous week.
After reporting a jump in U.S. pending home sales in the previous month, the National Association of Realtors released a report on Thursday showing a sharp pullback in pending home sales in the month of August.
NAR said its pending home sales index tumbled by 2.4 percent to 108.5 in August after surging up by 1.2 percent to a revised 111.2 in July. Economists had expected pending sales to come in roughly flat.
The dollar climbed to an early high of $1.1197 against the Euro Thursday, but has since eased back to around $1.1215.
Eurozone economic sentiment rebounded strongly to an eight-month high in September from a five-month low in the previous month, mainly driven by the improvement in industrial and retailers' confidence, survey data from the European Commission showed Thursday.
The economic sentiment index climbed to 104.9 from 103.5 in August. Economists had forecast an unchanged reading.
German consumer prices rose at the fastest pace in 16 months during September, preliminary data from Destatis showed Thursday. The consumer price index climbed 0.7 percent year-on-year following 0.4 percent increase in the each of the previous two months. Economists had forecast 0.6 percent inflation.
Germany's unemployment rate held steady in August as the number of those without jobs eased, figures from Destatis showed Thursday. The seasonally adjusted jobless rate based on ILO norms was 4.2 percent, unchanged from July, results of the labor force survey showed. The figure was 4.5 percent in the same month last year.
German unemployment increased unexpectedly in September, reports said citing the Federal Labor Agency on Thursday. The number of people out of work increased by 1,000 to 2.68 million, confounding expectations for a decrease of 5,000.
The jobless rate remained unchanged at a seasonally adjusted 6.1 percent, the lowest since the German reunification. The rate came in line with expectations.
The buck has climbed to around $1.2975 against the pound sterling Thursday afternoon, from yesterday's low of around $1.3050.
U.K. mortgage approvals declined in August to the lowest since late 2014, the Bank of England reported Thursday. The number of mortgages approved in August dropped to 60,058 from 60,925 in July. This was the lowest since November 2014, when mortgages totaled 59,392. The level was expected to fall to 60,200 in August.
The greenback reached a high of Y101.840 against the Japanese Yen this morning, but has since retreated to around Y101.
Retail sales in Japan were down 1.1 percent on month in August, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Thursday. That missed forecasts for a decline of 0.8 percent following the upwardly revised 1.5 percent increase in July.
