NEW YORK, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. dollar strengthened on Thursday with support from a strong U.S. GDP reading and less-than-expected unemployment claims.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, increased 0.42 percent to 103.3432 in late trading, climbing to a two-week high.
The U.S. economy grew at an annualized pace of 2 percent in the first quarter, significantly better than the previous estimate of 1.3 percent, according to data issued by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis on Thursday morning.
Meanwhile, U.S. weekly initial jobless claims last week decreased by 26,000 to a seasonally adjusted 239,000, the largest drop in 20 months and below the expectation of 265,000 by economists polled by Reuters.
After the report, the yield of U.S. 2-year Treasury notes hit its highest level since March 8, rising 16 basis points to 4.882 percent. The yield of the 10-year Treasury bonds rose by 13.44 basis points and closed at 3.846 percent, the highest since early March.
Speaking at an event held by the Spanish central bank on Thursday, Federal Reserve Chairman Powell indicated that the Fed is likely to resume its rate hike path after a pause earlier this month.
In addition, Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic said on Thursday that the Fed will have to increase rates if price growth moves away from target, or inflation expectations start to move in "a difficult way."
In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.0867 U.S. dollars from 1.0922 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound was down to 1.2613 U.S. dollars from 1.2648 dollars in the previous session.
The U.S. dollar bought 144.8870 Japanese yen, higher than 144.3170 Japanese yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar rose to 0.8999 Swiss franc from 0.8965 Swiss franc, and it decreased to 1.3243 Canadian dollars from 1.3254 Canadian dollars. The U.S. dollar was up to 10.8615 Swedish Krona from 10.7726 Swedish Krona. ■