U.S. dollar rises despite downbeat data

The U.S. dollar climbed against most major currencies on Thursday despite negative economic data from the country.

In the week ending April 30, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims was 274,000, an increase of 17,000 from the previous week's unrevised number of 257,000, said the U.S. Labor Department on Thursday.

The latest reading was higher than market consensus of 262,000.

Meanwhile, investors kept a close eye on Friday's nonfarm jobs report for more clues on the Federal Reserve's next rate hike.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was up 0.67 percent at 93.804 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.1398 dollars from 1.1502 dollars of the previous session, and the British pound dropped to 1.4473 dollars from 1.4499 dollars. The Australian dollar went up to 0.7463 dollars from 0.7458 dollars.

The dollar bought 107.25 Japanese yen, higher than 106.93 yen of the previous session. The dollar climbed to 0.9689 Swiss francs from 0.9563 Swiss francs, and it inched down to 1.2854 Canadian dollars from 1.2862 Canadian dollars. Endit