2019.10.2421:00:00UTC+00Dollar Exhibits Strength Against Major Rivals

The U.S. dollar recovered after a weak start on Thursday amid a slew of economic data from across the globe and the European Central Bank's decision to leave its key interest rates and stimulus measures unchanged.

The dollar index rose to 97.78 and despite paring some gains subsequently, was still firm at 97.69, up 0.2% from previous close.

The euro was down by about 0.25% at $1.1102, after the ECB left its policy rates and stimulus measures unchanged.

The ECB's main refinancing rate was retained at its record low 0% and the deposit rate at -0.5% after the latest Governing Council meeting. The latter was slashed by 10 basis points in September.

The marginal lending facility rate was kept unchanged at 0.25%. The bank also retained its forward guidance on both interest rates and asset purchases.

Meanwhile, the euro area private sector remained close to stagnation in October as manufacturing continued to shrink amid subdued expansion in services activity, survey data from IHS Markit showed.

Against pound sterling, the dollar strengthened to 1.2847, gaining more than 0.5%.

The Japanese Yen was up slightly against the dollar, with a unit of the U.S. currency fetching 108.65 yen, as compared to 108.69 yen on Wednesday.

The dollar was up marginally against the loonie at 1.3075, higher by 0.18% against Swiss franc at 0.9924, and up more than 0.5% against the Aussie at 0.6817.

In U.S. economic news, data from the Commerce Department showed durable goods orders tumbled by 1.1% in September after rising by a revised 0.3% in August. Economists had expected durable goods orders to decline by 0.8% compared to the 0.2% uptick that had been reported for the previous month.

A separate report from the Commerce Department showed new home sales pulled back by 0.7% to an annual rate of 701,000 in September after spiking by 6.2% to a revised rate of 706,000 in August.

Economists had expected sales to slump by 1.7% to a rate of 701,000 from the 713,000 originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department released a report showing initial jobless claims dipped to 212,000 in the week ended October 19th, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week's revised level of 218,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 215,000 from the 214,000 originally reported for the previous week.