1st LD Writethru: U.S. dollar mixed on soft data

The U.S. dollar traded mixed against other major currencies on Wednesday as data showed the country's durable goods orders fell more than expected.

U.S. Department of Commerce reported on Wednesday that new orders for manufactured durable goods in February decreased 3.2 billion dollars or 1.4 percent to 231.3 billion dollars, well below market consensus of a modest gain of 0.7 percent.

"Weak foreign demand, tough competition from cheaper imports and lower commodity prices will continue to weigh on domestic manufacturers in the foreseeable future," said Jay Morelock, an economist at FTN Financial, in a note.

Meanwhile, the euro climbed against the U.S. dollar as upbeat data from Germany showed the largest economy in Europe had rebounded greatly in the first quarter of this year.

The Ifo Business Climate Index for industry and trade in Germany went up for the fifth consecutive month from 106.8 points in February to 107.9 points in March, the highest level since July 2014, the Ifo institute said on Wednesday.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was down 0.26 percent at 96.941 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro increased to 1.0958 dollars from 1.0925 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound rose to 1.4865 dollars from 1.4846 dollars. The Australian dollar decreased to 0.7836 dollars from 0.7870 dollars.

The U.S. dollar bought 119.63 Japanese yen, lower than 119.66 yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar edged up to 0.9616 Swiss francs from 0.9576 Swiss francs, and it climbed to 1.2521 Canadian dollars from 1.2497 Canadian dollars. Endite