NEW YORK, April 12 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. dollar index climbed on Thursday as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East eased.
The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against six major peers, was up 0.19 percent at 89.737 in late trading.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Russia should get ready for missile attacks against Syria. He amended the warning on Thursday, saying a military strike "could be very soon or not so soon at all."
Analysts said Trump's latest words lowered investors' concerns for geopolitical tensions and increased market appetite for riskier assets on Thursday. The greenback rose over 0.4 percent against Japanese Yen, a traditional safe-haven currency.
On the economic front, new applications for U.S. unemployment benefits fell last week, pointing to sustained labor market strength.
In the week ending April 7, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 233,000, a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 242,000. The four-week moving average was 230,000, an increase of 1,750 from the previous week's unrevised average of 228,250, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
In late New York trading, the euro dropped to 1.2330 dollars from 1.2365 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound increased to 1.4226 dollars from 1.4176 U.S. dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar was down to 0.7756 dollar from 0.7757 dollar.
The U.S. dollar bought 107.20 Japanese yen, higher than 106.91 Japanese yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar was up to 0.9621 Swiss franc from 0.9580 Swiss franc, and it rose to 1.2587 Canadian dollars from 1.2578 Canadian dollars. Enditem
