Investing.com - U.S. factory orders fell more than expected in December, declining for the fourth time in the past five months, official data showed on Thursday.
In a report, the U.S. Census Bureau said factory orders decreased by a seasonally adjusted 2.9%, worse than forecasts for a decline of 2.8%. Factory orders fell 0.7% in November, whose figure was revised from a previously reported decline of 0.2%.
EUR/USD was trading at 1.1218 from around 1.1202 ahead of the release of the data, GBP/USD was at 1.4607 from 1.4595 earlier, while USD/JPY was at 116.80 from 116.98 earlier.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was at 96.43, compared to 96.47 ahead of the report.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock markets were mixed after the open. The Dow 30 tacked on 0.1%, the S&P 500 shed 0.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite slumped 0.35%.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, gold futures traded at $1,156.50 a troy ounce, compared to $1,155.30 ahead of the data, while crude oil traded at $33.03 a barrel from $33.35 earlier.