U.S. dollar drops on profit-taking

The U.S. dollar fell against other major currencies on Thursday as investors took profits from recent gains.

The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against six major peers, had rallied over 3 percent last month since Donald Trump was elected U.S. president, as investors expected that a Trump administration will implement economic stimulus policies that boost inflation and interest-rate hikes.

The index went down 0.51 percent at 100.980 in late trading on Thursday after investors booked gains following a bullish November.

On the economic front, in the week ending November 26, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 268,000, an increase of 17,000 from the previously week's unrevised level, the U.S. Labor Department announced Thursday.

The 4-week moving average was 251,500, an increase of 500 from the previous week's unrevised average of 251,000.

The November purchasing managers' index registered 53.2 percent, an increase of 0.9 percentage point from the October reading of 52.1 percent, according to the Institute for Supply Management (ISM).

In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.0657 dollars from 1.0596 dollars, and the British pound climbed to 1.2586 dollars from 1.2500 dollars. The Australian dollar increased to 0.7418 dollars from 0.7393 dollars.

The dollar bought 114.02 Japanese yen, lower than 114.18 yen in the previous session. The dollar inched down to 1.0111 Swiss francs from 1.0166 Swiss francs, and it slipped to 1.3309 Canadian dollars from 1.3423 Canadian dollars. Enditem