The U.S. dollar index increased against other major currencies in late trading on Thursday as investors digested the latest economic data.

New orders for manufactured durable goods in March increased 2.6 percent, beating market estimates, the U.S. Commerce Department said on Thursday.

The Labor Department reported on Thursday that in the week ending April 21, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims was 209,000, a decrease of 24,000 from the previous week's revised level. This is the lowest level for initial claims since Dec. 6, 1969 when it was 202,000.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, rose 0.45 percent at 91.581 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro was down to 1.2107 U.S. dollars from 1.2178 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound was down to 1.3923 dollars from 1.3936 dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar fell to 0.7552 dollar from 0.7564 dollar.

The U.S. dollar bought 109.37 Japanese yen, the same as 109.37 Japanese yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar was up to 0.9893 Swiss franc from 0.9829 Swiss franc, and it was up to 1.2872 Canadian dollars from 1.2849 Canadian dollars.