1st LD Writethru: U.S. dollar rises on positive jobless report

The U.S. dollar climbed against most major currencies on Thursday as a jobless report from the country came out positive.

U.S. Labor Department said on Thursday that in the week ending May 30, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims was 276,000, a decrease of 8,000 from the previous week's revised level. The latest reading was in line with market estimates.

Investors were awaiting the closely-watched nonfarm payroll report due out on Friday to get a more comprehensive view of the recovery of U.S. labor market.

Overseas, the Greek government on Thursday expressed optimism over a "mutually acceptable" deal with international creditors on the country's debt repayment arrangements following the latest inconclusive talks in Brussels.

But Greece and its international creditors still need a few more days to clinch a deal, said Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras after a marathon meeting with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem.

Greece told the International Monetary Fund on Thursday that it planned on bundling four payments due in June, with the first due Friday, into one single payment for June 30.

In late New York trading, the euro dropped to 1.1247 dollars from 1.1250 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound rose to 1.5370 dollars from 1.5314 dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar went down to 0.7685 dollars from 0.7770 dollars.

The U.S. dollar bought 124.36 Japanese yen, higher than 124.35 yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar dropped to 0.9328 Swiss francs from 0.9357 Swiss francs, and it increased to 1.2492 Canadian dollars from 1.2460 Canadian dollars. Endite