U.S. dollar rises amid Fed statement, data

The U.S. dollar increased against most major currencies on Thursday as investors were digesting the newly-released Federal Reserve statement and a batch of economic data from the country.

The U.S. central bank announced to keep interest rate unchanged in a statement released on Wednesday after its two-day policy meeting.

According to the statement, Fed officials gave mixed assessment about the U.S. economy, saying that the labor market has slowed its improvement pace, while growth in economic activity appeared to have picked up since April. Moreover, the Fed signaled afterwards that it plans two rate increases later this year.

On the economic front, the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers increased 0.2 percent in May on a seasonally adjusted basis, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday.

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.2 percent in May. Over the last 12 months, the index has risen 2.2 percent.

In a separate report, the department announced that in the week ending June 11, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 277,000, an increase of 13,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 264,000.

In late New York trading, the euro dipped to 1.1239 dollars from 1.1267 dollars of the previous session, and the British pound increased to 1.4233 dollars from 1.4170 dollars. The Australian dollar went down to 0.7371 dollars from 0.7419 dollars.

The dollar bought 104.38 Japanese yen, lower than 105.76 yen of the previous session. The dollar rose to 0.9647 Swiss francs from 0.9614 Swiss francs, and it inched up to 1.2941 Canadian dollars from 1.2907 Canadian dollars. Endit