Investing.com - The dollar remained broadly higher at an eight-month peak against the other major currencies on Wednesday, after the release of strong U.S. economic reports boosted optimism over the strength of the economy.
USD/JPY edged up 0.21% to 122.77.
The U.S. Department of Labor reported on Wednesday that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending November 21 declined by 12,000 to 260,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 272,000.
Separately, the U.S. Commerce Department said that durable goods orders jumped by 3.0% last month, easily surpassing forecasts for 1.5%.
Core durable goods orders, which exclude volatile transportation items, rose 0.5% in October, compared to expectations for an increase of 0.3%.
The upbeat data added to expectations that the Federal Reserve is on track to raise interest rates next month.
Data also showed that U.S. personal spending inched up 0.1% last month, missing expectations for a 0.3% gain. Personal spending rose 0.1% in September.
Earlier Wednesday, the minutes of the Bank of Japan's October meeting showed that some board members believe that an output gap was one reason the country was taking longer to meet inflation targets.
These concerns underlined a lingering worry that the delay in meeting the BOJ's 2% inflation target meant that its quantitative easing measures had been ineffective.
However, the majority view was that the delay in hitting the inflation target was due to weak oil prices, according to the minutes.
EUR/USD slid 0.57% to fresh seven-month lows of 1.0582.
Market sentiment was hit after news on Tuesday that Turkey shot down a Russian warplane on the Syrian border. Ankara claimed the SU-24 warplane had entered Turkish airspace, but Moscow has rejected those claims.
Responding to the incident, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the downing "a stab in the back," and warned it would have serious consequences for the Russian-Turkish relationship.
Elsewhere, the dollar was steady against the pound, with GBP/USD at 1.5091 and was higher against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF gaining 0.55% to 1.0223.
The Australian dollar was weaker, with AUD/USD down 0.15% at 0.7245, while NZD/USD held steady at 0.6558.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD added 0.18% to 1.3331, not far from Monday's two-month high of 1.3437
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.42% at a fresh eight-month peak of 110.10.