NEW YORK, July 27 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. dollar rose against most major currencies on Thursday as economic data from the country came out positive.
New orders for manufactured durable goods in June increased 6.5 percent to 245.6 billion U.S. dollars, the U.S. Commerce Department announced on Thursday. The latest reading was higher than market expectations of a 3.5-percent gain.
In the previous session, the Federal Reserve left its benchmark interest rates unchanged as widely expected after concluding its two-day monetary policy meeting. But the central bank signaled that it would begin shrinking its balance sheet "relatively soon."
Market analysts had said the Fed might start the balance sheet reduction as early as in September.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was up 0.25 percent at 93.908 in late trading on Thursday.
In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.1679 U.S. dollars from 1.1700 U.S. dollars, and the British pound dropped to 1.3077 U.S. dollars from 1.3094 U.S. dollars. The Australian dollar slipped to 0.7971 U.S. dollar from 0.7972 U.S. dollar.
The U.S. dollar bought 111.12 Japanese yen, lower than 111.44 yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar increased to 0.9635 Swiss franc from 0.9530 Swiss franc, and it edged up to 1.2546 Canadian dollars from 1.2483 Canadian dollars. Enditem
