The euro fell against the US dollar in New York trading on Thursday (July 18) after the European Central Bank (ECB) voted to keep interest rates steady at its meeting yesterday.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, rose 0.41% to 104.173.
The euro fell to $1.0899 from $1.0937 on Wednesday, while the pound fell to $1.2948 from $1.3006.
The dollar rose to 157.29 yen from 156.10 yen on Wednesday. The dollar also rose to 0.8871 Swiss franc from 0.8836 franc and to 1.3711 Canadian dollars from 1.3690 Canadian dollars.
The European Central Bank (ECB) held interest rates steady at its meeting yesterday, as expected by the market. The ECB's holding rates kept the deposit rate at 3.75%, the lending rate at 4.50% and the refinancing rate at 4.25%.
ECB President Christine Lagarde said on July 4 that the ECB needs more information to ensure inflation is moving towards its 2% target before it can cut rates further.
Investors are now betting 80% on the ECB cutting rates by 25bps at its September meeting, before cutting rates by another 25bps in December.
In economic data released last night, the US Department of Labor reported that initial jobless claims rose by 20,000 to a seasonally adjusted 243,000 last week, the highest level since August 12, 2013, and above the analysts' forecast of 229,000.
The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank said its Mid-Atlantic manufacturing index rose 13 points to +13.9 in July, beating analysts' expectations of +2.9.
Meanwhile, the positive manufacturing index indicates that manufacturing in the Mid-Atlantic region is expanding, driven by increases in new orders and employment.