US dollar falls amid downbeat data

The US dollar declined against most other major currencies as investors digested a string of generally negative economic reports.

In late New York trading on Wednesday, the euro increased to $1.1388 from $1.1367 in the previous session, and the British pound decreased to $1.2780 from $1.2784 in the previous session, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Australian dollar rose to $0.7264 from $0.7218.

The US dollar bought 113.07 Japanese yen, higher than 112.72 Japanese yen of the previous session. The US dollar fell to 0.9944 Swiss franc from 0.9949 Swiss franc, and it was down to 1.3254 Canadian dollars from 1.3314 Canadian dollars.

US new orders for manufactured durable goods in October decreased 4.4 per cent to $248.5 billion, marking the biggest percentage decline in 15 months, the Commerce Department announced on Wednesday.

US weekly jobless claims rose to a more than 4-month high. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 224,000 for the week ended November 17, the highest level since the end of June, said the Labor Department on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the consumer sentiment index hit 97.5 in November, according to the University of Michigan's monthly survey of consumers Wednesday. The figure was lower than market estimates of 98.3 and was also down from October's 98.6.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was down 0.13 per cent at 96.7119 in late trading.

--IANS

pgh/