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Dollar pares gains after upbeat U.S. economic reports

Published 06/25/2015, 08:42 AM
Updated 06/25/2015, 08:42 AM
© Reuters.  Dollar pulls back from session highs despite upbeat U.S. data

© Reuters. Dollar pulls back from session highs despite upbeat U.S. data

Investing.com - The dollar pared gains against a basket of other major currencies on Thursday, after data showed that U.S. personal spending rose at the fastest rate since August 2009 and U.S. jobless claims rose slightly less than expected last week.

The Commerce Department said that personal spending rose by 0.9% in May, above expectations for a gain of 0.7%. Personal spending rose 0.1% in April, whose figure was revised up from a previously reported flat reading.

The report also showed personal income rose by 0.5% in May, in line with forecasts and after rising 0.5% in April.

Separately, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending June 20 increased by 3,000 to 271,000 from the previous week’s total of 268,000. Analysts had expected initial jobless claims to rise by 4,000 to 272,000 last week.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 95.55, after hitting highs of 95.70 earlier in the day.

EUR/USD was down 0.08% to 1.1195, after falling to lows of 1.154 earlier in the session.

Late night talks between Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund ended without agreement on Wednesday.

Discussions were expected to resume in Brussels on Thursday morning, ahead of a Eurogroup meeting of euro zone finance ministers scheduled later in the day.

Tsipras had told associates on Wednesday that some of Greece's latest proposed reform measures had not been accepted by creditors.

Greece has to repay € 1.6 billion to the IMF on June 30 or face going into default, which could trigger the country’s exit from the euro area.

Earlier Thursday, data showed that Germany's Gfk consumer climate index ticked down to 10.1 in June from 10.2 the previous month, in line with expectations.

The pound turned higher, with GBP/USDup 0.10% at 1.5723.

Elsewhere, the dollar was lower against the yen, with USD/JPY down 0.08% to 123.74 and higher against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF climbing 0.64% to 0.9397.

The Swiss National Bank Chief Thomas Jordan earlier said that the franc is "markedly" overvalued.

"The global economy has been in a nearly permanent state of crisis for almost eight years," Jordan said during a speech in Lausanne. "The pressure on the franc is the mirror image of this."

The Australian and New Zealand dollars were higher, with AUD/USD up 0.38% to 0.7731 and with NZD/USD adding 0.18% to 0.6903.

Meanwhile, USD/CAD held steady at 1.2389.

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