News: FOREX-Dollar gains over euro as data shows strong U.S. economy

• U.S. retail sales, jobless claims show strong economy
• Euro hurt by weak manufacturing data

(Updates prices)

The U.S. dollar gained to its strongest level against the euro in over a week on Thursday as data pointed to a sturdy U.S. economy, while the euro was dented by weak manufacturing activity in Europe.

U.S. retail sales increased by the most in 1-1/2 years in March as households boosted purchases of motor vehicles and a range of other goods, the latest indication that economic growth picked up in the first quarter after a false start.

The economy's enduring strength was underscored by other data on Thursday showing the number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits dropped to the lowest in nearly 50 years last week.

The picture was less bullish in the euro zone as data showed that activity in Germany's manufacturing sector shrank for a fourth straight month in April, while a similar survey from France also painted a bleak picture.

“In the space of several hours we got a timely reminder that the growth leadership is very decisively in favor of the U.S. dollar,” said Richard Franulovich, head of FX strategy at Westpac Banking Corp in New York.

Investors have been looking for signs that global growth is stabilizing after a slowdown. "Investors are worried about the health of the global economy and the eurozone and the fortunes of the euro are closely tied with that," said Ricardo Evangelista, a senior analyst at ActivTrades in London.

A week ago, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi raised the prospect of more support for the struggling euro zone economy if its slowdown persist.

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	Currency bid prices at 1:52PM (1752 GMT) 

 Description	  RIC		 Last	   U.S. Close  Pct	  YTD Pct  High Bid	Low Bid 
										 Previous	Change   Change				
										 Session									
 Euro/Dollar	  EUR=		$1.1228	$1.1294	 -0.58	-2.10	+1.1305	 +1.1227 
 Dollar/Yen	   JPY=		111.9400   112.0500	-0.10	+1.52	+112.0700   +111.7800 
 Euro/Yen		 EURJPY=	 125.67	 126.54	  -0.69	-0.44	+126.6000   +125.6500 
 Dollar/Swiss	 CHF=		1.0153	 1.0103	  +0.49	+3.45	+1.0159	 +1.0093 
 Sterling/Dollar  GBP=		1.2987	 1.3043	  -0.43	+1.80	+1.3053	 +1.2980 
 Dollar/Canadian  CAD=		1.3378	 1.3338	  +0.30	-1.90	+1.3399	 +1.3336 
 Australian/Doll  AUD=		0.7143	 0.7178	  -0.49	+1.33	+0.7199	 +0.7137 
 ar																				 

 Euro/Swiss	   EURCHF=	 1.1400	 1.1414	  -0.12	+1.30	+1.1422	 +1.1367 
 Euro/Sterling	EURGBP=	 0.8645	 0.8657	  -0.14	-3.77	+0.8669	 +0.8637 
 NZ			   NZD=		0.6674	 0.6726	  -0.77	-0.64	+0.6730	 +0.6673 
 Dollar/Dollar																	  

 Dollar/Norway	NOK=		8.5229	 8.4911	  +0.37	-1.34	+8.5597	 +8.4867 
 Euro/Norway	  EURNOK=	 9.5710	 9.5976	  -0.28	-3.38	+9.6314	 +9.5700 
 Dollar/Sweden	SEK=		9.3132	 9.2466	  +0.11	+3.90	+9.3350	 +9.2391 
 Euro/Sweden	  EURSEK=	 10.4593	10.4475	 +0.11	+1.90	+10.5034	+10.4400