Investing.com - The dollar pushed higher against the other major currencies on Thursday, despite the release of mixed U.S. economic reports as expectations for a rate hike later this year remained high.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose to 98.71, not far from Tuesday’s nine-month peak of 99.09.
The index has rallied 3.4% so far this month as hawkish remarks by Federal Reserve officials in recent weeks cemented expectations for a December rate hike.
Data on Thursday showed that U.S. orders for long lasting manufactured goods fell slightly in September.
Total durable goods orders, which include transportation items, dropped 0.1% last month, the Commerce Department said.
But excluding defense spending, durable-goods orders rose by 0.7%. Stripping out transportation, orders rose 0.2%.
Core capital goods orders, viewed as a key measure of business investment slumped 1.2% last month, the largest drop since February and were down 4.1% on a yearly basis.
A separate report showed that the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell by 3,000 to 258,000 last week, pointing to sustained labor market strength and firming economic growth.
The reports came as investors were turning their attention to Friday’s data on U.S. third quarter growth, which is expected to show a significant rebound from the second quarter.
Investors are currently pricing in a 71.4% chance of a rate hike at the Fed's December meeting; according to federal funds futures tracked by Investing.com's Fed Rate Monitor Tool.
Expectations for higher interest rates typically boost the dollar by making the currency more attractive to yield-seeking investors.
Sterling was lower in spite of data on third quarter growth showing that the U.K. economy shrugged off the immediate shock of the June 23 Brexit referendum.
GBP/USD initially touched highs of 1.2271 before falling to 1.2176.
Britain’s service sector, which makes up three quarters of the economy, expanded in the three months to September, but activity in other sectors contracted.
Meanwhile, the dollar hit fresh three-month highs against the yen, with USD/JPY up 0.4% to 104.89.
The euro was marginally higher, with EUR/USD last at 1.0917.