The U.S. dollar weakened against the other major currencies ahead of European session on Friday, in the wake of disappointing economic data from the U.S.

A report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed that the first-time claims for U.S.unemployment benefits unexpectedly saw a modest increase in the week ended April 18th.

The report said initial jobless claims edged up to 295,000, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 294,000. The modest uptick came as a surprise to economists, who had expected jobless claims to dip to 290,000.

After reporting a notable increase in new home sales in the U.S. in the previous month, the Commerce Department released a report on Thursday showing that new home sales pulled back by much more than expected in the month of March.

The report said new home sales plunged 11.4 percent to an annual rate of 481,000 in March after jumping 5.6 percent to a revised rate of 543,000 in February. Economists had expected new home sales to drop to an annual rate of 518,000 from the 539,000 originally reported for the previous month.

Traders await the U.S. durable goods orders data for March, for further clues on Fed policy outlook ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting on April 28 and 29.

Meanwhile, the European stock market traded higher, on optimism that Greece may reach a deal with its European lenders in the meeting of Eurozone officials in Latvia.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said that she had a "constructive" meeting with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index is currently up 0.36 percent or 25.65 points at 7,079, France's CAC 40 index is up 0.60 percent or 31.23 points at 5,210 and Germany's DAX is up 0.48 percent or 56.55 points at 11,780.

In the Asian trading today, the U.S. dollar held steady against its major rivals.

In early European trading today, the U.S. dollar fell to more than a 5-week low of 1.5079 against the pound and a 2-week low of 1.0873 against the euro, from early highs of 1.5026 and 1.0784, respectively.If the greenback extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 1.53 against the pound and 1.15 against the euro.

Pulling away from an early high of 119.65 against the yen, the greenback depreciated to a 3-day low of 119.21. On the downside, 118.00 is seen as the next support level for the greenback.

Data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed that Japan's all industry activity increased unexpectedly in February. The all industry activity index climbed 0.1 percent month-on-month in February, in contrast to economists' expectations for a 1.0 percent decline.

On a yearly basis, the all industry activity index dropped at a slower pace of 1.2 percent in February, following a 1.7 percent fall in January. It was the eleventh successive monthly decrease.

The greenback slipped to a 2-day low of 0.9523 against the Swiss franc and 4-day low of 0.7813 against the Australian dollar, from early highs of 0.9573 and 0.7763, respectively. The greenback may test support near 0.93 against the franc and 0.79 against the aussie.

Against the New Zealand and the Canadian dollars, the greenback edged down to 0.7586 and 1.2129 from early highs of 0.7542 and 1.2159, respectively.The greenback is likely to find support around 0.78 against the kiwi and 1.19 against the loonie.

Looking ahead, U.S. durable goods orders for March is set to be published in the New York session.

At 10:30 am ET, Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz will participate in a panel discussion at the Export-Import Bank of the United States in Washington DC.

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