U.S. Dollar Climbs Against Most Majors

The U.S. dollar advanced against its most major rivals on Thursday, in subdued trading ahead of Thanksgiving holiday break, buoyed by hopes for a Fed liftoff in December.

Strong U.S. economic indicators released overnight, including higher-than-expected durable goods orders for October and lower-than-expected claims for unemployment benefits last week, reinforced hopes that the Fed may raise rates at next meeting.

The diverging monetary policy of Fed, to that of its peers, continued to support the greenback. While the Fed is likely to raise rates by next month, the European Central Bank is expected to ease its monetary policy again.

With no major U.S. economic news due today and tomorrow, traders keenly focus on key events next week, which includes U.S. manufacturing data, services PMI and jobs report for November, for further clues about the economy.

The greenback held steady against its major rivals in the Asian session.

The greenback strengthened to 1.5066 against the pound, off its prior low of 1.5130. The greenback is seen finding resistance around the 1.49 mark.

The greenback edged up to 1.0244 against the Swiss franc, compared to 1.0200 hit late New York Wednesday. If the greenback rises further, 1.035 is possibly seen as its next resistance level.

Swiss industrial production declined in the third quarter at the fastest pace since 2009, according to a report from the Federal Statistics Office.

Industrial output dropped 2.8 percent year-on-year in the third quarter, bigger than the 2.1 percent decrease seen a quarter ago.

The greenback edged up to 1.0600 against the euro, and held in tight ranges thereafter. The pair ended yesterday's trading at 1.0624.

Data from the European Central Bank showed Eurozone money supply growth accelerated and lending to households rose at a faster pace in October.

The broad monetary aggregate M3 increased 5.3 percent, faster than the 4.9 percent growth registered in September. Economists had forecast growth to remain stable at 4.9 percent.

On the flip side, the greenback that declined to 122.50 against the yen at 10:45 pm ET, held steady thereafter. The pair ended Wednesday's trading at 122.68.