US dollar falls on soft economic data

The US dollar traded lower against most major currencies as investors digested weaker-than-expected economic data.

In late New York trading on Thursday, the euro rose to $1.1422 from $1.1328, and the British pound increased to $1.2971 from $1.2916 in the previous session, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Australian dollar edged down to $0.7587 from $0.7588.

The US dollar bought 113.21 Japanese yen, lower than 113.42 yen of the previous session. The US dollar fell to 0.9615 Swiss franc from 0.9662 Swiss franc, and it edged down to 1.2955 Canadian dollars from 1.2980 Canadian dollars.

US private sector employment increased by 158,000 jobs from May to June, well below market consensus of 180,000, said the June ADP National Employment Report on Thursday.

The ADP report is often seen as a preview for the closely-watched US nonfarm payrolls data due out on Friday.

In the week ending July 1, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims increased by 4,000 from the previous week's unrevised level to 248,000, exceeding market estimates, the US Labor Department reported Thursday.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was down 0.49 per cent at 95.814 in late trading.

--IANS

pgh/