Investing.com - The dollar was little changed against a basket of other major currencies on Thursday, as the release of strong manufacturing data from Philadelphia was offset by mixed U.S. jobless claims and inflation reports.
USD/JPY hit highs of 118.98, the most since August 2007, before pulling back to 118.15, up 0.18% for the day.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said that its manufacturing index jumped to a 21-year high of 40.8 from 20.7 in October. Economists had expected the index to decline to 18.5.
Data also showed that U.S. sales of previously owned homes rose to a 13-month high in October.
Earlier Thursday, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending November 15 decreased by 2,000 to 291,000 from the previous week's revised total of 293,000.
Analysts had expected jobless claims to fall by 7,000 to 286,000 last week.
A separate report showed that U.S. consumer prices were flat last month, compared to estimates for a decline of 0.1% and following a gain of 0.1% in September.
Core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy costs, increased by 0.2% in October, in line with expectations. Core consumer prices inched up 0.1% in September.
Demand for the dollar continued to be underpinned after the minutes of the Fed's latest meeting indicated that officials believe the economic recovery is strong enough to withstand external threats to growth, but offered little additional clarity about when rates could start to rise.
EUR/USD hit session lows of 1.2504 and was last down 0.09% to 1.2541.
The euro remained under pressure after a report showing the euro zone’s services purchasing managers’ index fell to 51.3 this month, while the manufacturing PMI slid to 50.4 from 50.6 in October.
The report said the PMI surveys pointed to economic growth of just 0.1% to 0.2% in the current quarter.
The pound was higher against the dollar, with GBP/USD up 0.25% to 1.5720. Sterling found support after data showed that U.K. retail sales rebounded by a stronger than forecast 0.8% in October after a 0.4% drop the previous month.
USD/CHF was steady at 0.9577, while EUR/CHF was flat near 26-month lows of 1.2013, not far from the Swiss National Bank’s exchange rate cap of 1.20 per euro.
The Swiss franc has strengthened against the euro in recent sessions ahead of a vote later this month which could force the SNB to increase its gold reserves, a move which could restrict its ability to cap the value of the franc against the euro.
AUD/USD added 0.08% to 0.8624, while NZD/USD rose 0.13% to trade at 0.7861. The commodity linked dollars fell to session lows after data released earlier in the day showed that China’s HSBC manufacturing PMI fell to a six-month low of 50.0 this month, adding to concerns over a slowdown.
Elsewhere, USD/CAD slid 0.29% to 1.1309 after data showed that Canadian wholesale sales rose 1.8% in September, more than the expected 0.7% gain, after a flat reading in August.
The US dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was steady at 87.69, not far from last week’s more than four-year highs of 88.36.