U.S. dollar trades mixed amid economic data

NEW YORK, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. dollar traded mixed against other major currencies on Thursday as investors digested a batch of economic reports.

U.S. real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 3.2 percent in the third quarter of 2017, according to the third estimate released by the Commerce Department on Thursday. In the second quarter, real GDP increased 3.1 percent.

"Third quarter GDP was close enough in this final revision for investors to move on to thinking about Q4 and 2018," FTN Chief Economist Chris Low said. "The Fed thinks GDP will grow 2.5 percent, and that appears to be the high end of Street economists' expectations."

Meanwhile, in the week ending December 16, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 245,000, an increase of 20,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 225,000, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday.

The 4-week moving average was 236,000, an increase of 1,250 from the previous week's unrevised average of 234,750.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, decreased 0.03 percent at 93.284 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.1871 dollars from 1.1877 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound dipped to 1.3381 dollars from 1.3391 U.S. dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar gained to 0.7706 dollar from 0.7666 dollar.

The U.S. dollar bought 113.35 Japanese yen, lower than 113.41 yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar advanced to 0.9884 Swiss franc from 0.9866 Swiss franc, and it moved down to 1.2730 Canadian dollars from 1.2828 Canadian dollars. Enditem