The U.S. dollar climbed against most major currencies on Thursday as the country's strong GDP data indicated that the U.S. economy is in good shape.
The U.S. Commerce Department on Thursday revised up its estimate for the real gross domestic product (GDP) in the second quarter from a growth rate of 2.3 percent to 3.7 percent, much higher than a gain of 0.6 percent in the first quarter.
Other economic data from the country also came out positive. In the week ending Aug. 22, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims was 271,000, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week, according to the U.S. Labor Department Thursday. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was up 0.57 percent at 95.643 in late trading.
Although robust data eased some worries over whether the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates this year given the global market rout recently, many investors held that a September- hike is practically off the table.
In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.1257 dollars from 1.1345 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound dropped to 1.5425 dollars from 1.5469 U.S. dollars in the previous session.
The Australian dollar inched up to 0.7171 dollar from 0. 7099 dollar. The U.S. dollar bought 120.68 Japanese yen, higher than 119.50 yen of the previous session. The greenback rose to 0.9653 Swiss franc from 0.9527 Swiss franc, and sagged to 1.3220 Canadian dollars from 1.3337 Canadian dollars.
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