Investing.com -- The U.S. dollar index soared more than 1% to a three-week high on Thursday following the release of a flurry of economic data that sent the dollar upward against its main rivals.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a basket of six other major currencies, rose 1.12 points or 1.20% during midday trading to 95.37.
The dollar strengthened amid the release of mixed U.S. data on Thursday. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) fell 0.7% in January, above estimates of a 0.6% decline. The drop in inflation was the largest decline since December, 2008. The CPI, which slipped 0.3 percent in December, experienced a decline for the third straight month.
The reports were released one day after Janet Yellen concluded the first of her two semi-annual appearances before Congress. Yellen, the Federal Reserve chair, indicated that the U.S. central bank will delay its plan of raising interest rates until wages increase and inflation moves closer to its targeted goal of 2%.
Elsewhere, the U.S. Department of Commerce said that total durable goods orders for the month increased 2.8%, above forecasts of a 1.7% increase. Core durable goods orders, excluding volatile transportation items, edged up 0.3%.
The U.S. Department of Labor also reported that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending February 21 increased by 31,000 to 313,000 from the prior week's revised total of 282,000.
The euro, meanwhile, weakened to a monthly-low against the U.S. dollar, plunging -0.0175 or 1.54% to 1.1186 in U.S. midday trading.
In Germany, finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble expressed disbelief at the latest comments from Greek counterpart Yanis Varoufakis, hinting that Greece may still be unable to meet their short term debt obligations.
"I can't see anything in what Varoufakis is doing that makes life easier for us," Schäuble said during a closed-door meeting of the German Parliament on Thursday.
Still, German legislators are expected to approve a four-month extension of a euro zone bailout to Greece on Friday.
The Euro is down more than 18% against the dollar from its value last year at this time.
USD/JPY increased 0.59 or 0.50% to 119.49 in U.S. midday trading, as it approached its weekly high of 119.70.
GBP/USD fell 0.80% to 1.5404 and AUD/USD dropped nearly 1.0% to 0.7809, one day after reaching a monthly high.