US dollar edges up amid economic data

The US dollar increased modestly in late trading yesterday as market participants digested a slew of economic data.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, rose 0.09 per cent at 93.3412.

In late New York trading, the euro was up to $1.1824 from $1.1808 in the previous session, and the British pound was down to $1.2798 from $1.2989 in the previous session. The Australian dollar decreased to $0.7266 from $0.7270, Xinhua reported.

The US dollar bought 106.11 Japanese yen, lower than 106.21 Japanese yen of the previous session. The US dollar was down to 0.9100 Swiss franc from 0.9125 Swiss franc, and it was up to 1.3178 Canadian dollars from 1.3163 Canadian dollars.

On the data front, US initial jobless claims, a rough way to measure layoffs, registered 884,000 in the week ending September 5, unchanged from the previous week's revised level, the Department of Labor reported yesterday. Economists polled by MarketWatch had forecast new claims to fall to 840,000..