Dollar Loses Ground On Weak Economic Data

(RTTNews) - The U.S. dollar shed ground against its major counterparts on Thursday after data from the Labor Department showed a bigger than expected increase in U.S. jobless claims last week, a Conference Board report showed an unexpected drop in the reading of its leading economic index.

The Labor Department data said initial jobless claims increased to 219,000 in the week ended February 15th, up 5,000 from the previous week's revised level of 214,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 215,000 from the 213,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Philadelphia-area manufacturing activity continued to expand in the month of February, according to a report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, although the index of activity in the sector pulled back sharply.

The Philly Fed said its diffusion index for current general activity plunged to 18.1 in February after skyrocketing to 44.3 in January, but a positive reading still indicates growth. Economists had expected the index to slump to 20.0.

A report from the Conference Board showed an unexpected decrease by its reading on leading U.S. economic indicators in the month of January. The Conference Board said its leading economic index fell by 0.3% in January following a revised 0.1% uptick in December.

The dollar index dropped to 106.34, down nearly 0.8% from previous close.

Against the Euro, the dollar weakened to 1.0503 from 1.0424, and eased to 1.2669 against Pound Sterling.

The dollar weakened against the Japanese currency, fetching 149.61 yen a unit, sharply down from 151.48 yen on Wednesday. Against the Aussie, the dollar weakened to 0.6403 from 0.6345.

The Swiss franc firmed to 0.8979 a unit of greenback, from 0.9044. The dollar weakened to C$ 1.4178 against the loonie, from C$ 1.4239.