1st LD Writethru: U.S. dollar fluctuates amid thin trading

The U.S. dollar fluctuated against most major currencies Wednesday amid thin trading in holiday season.

U.S. Commerce Department announced Wednesday that new orders for manufactured durable goods in November increased 0.1 billion U.S. dollars, or virtually unchanged, to 238.8 billion dollars.

Personal income increased 44.4 billion dollars, or 0.3 percent, and disposable personal income rose 34.5 billion dollars, or 0.3 percent, in November, according to another report released by the Commerce Department Wednesday.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers,was up 0.14 percent at 98.358 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.0908 U.S. dollars from 1.0954 dollars of the previous session, and the British pound increased to 1.4872 U.S. dollars from 1.4814 dollars. The Australian dollar went up to 0.7241 U.S. dollar from 0.7227 dollar.

The U.S. dollar bought 120.85 Japanese yen, lower than 121.04 yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar moved up to 0.9906 Swiss franc from 0.9877 Swiss franc and moved down to 1.3862 Canadian dollars from 1.3940 Canadian dollars. Endit