U.S. dollar rallies amid eased trade worries

NEW YORK, April 5 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. dollar index rose against most other major currencies in late trading on Thursday, as market nerves about trade tensions between China and the United States were calmed after U.S. officials said the countries could negotiate.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Thursday he expects the United States and China to work out their trade differences over time and that trade barriers likely "will come down on both sides," according to CNBC.

China on Wednesday unveiled a list of products worth 50 billion U.S. dollars imported from the United States that will be subject to higher tariffs, including soy bean, automobiles and chemical products.

The move was taken after the U.S. administration announced a proposed list of products subject to additional tariffs, which covers Chinese exports worth 50 billion dollars with a suggested tariff rate of 25 percent.

On the economic front, U.S. Labor Department said on Thursday that in the week ending March 31, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims was 242,000, an increase of 24,000 from the previous week's revised level, higher than market expectations.

The four-week moving average was 228,250, an increase of 3,000 from the previous week's revised average.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Commerce Department announced Thursday that the goods and services deficit came in at 57.6 billion U.S. dollars in February, up 0.9 billion dollars from the revised January reading.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, increased 0.36 percent at 90.468 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.2236 dollars from 1.2281 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound decreased to 1.4001 dollars from 1.4074 U.S. dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar was down to 0.7682 dollar from 0.7707 dollar.

The U.S. dollar bought 107.44 Japanese yen, higher than 106.74 Japanese yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar was up to 0.9635 Swiss franc from 0.9605 Swiss franc, and it dipped to 1.2761 Canadian dollars from 1.2791 Canadian dollars. Enditem