[IFX Darika]

The dollar remained mixed versus other major currencies Thursday morning in New York, holding yesterday's gains versus the euro and yen while ceded a bit of ground against the sterling and loonie.

Traders were looking ahead to key data on the jobs situation and manufacturing sector, following Wednesday's decision by the Federal Reserve to maintain its key lending rate near zero.

The Labor Department is due to release its customary jobless claims report for the week ended January 23rd at 8:30 AM ET. Economists expect a decline in claims to 450,000. Lingering weakness in the jobs market compelled the Fed to reiterate it will keep rates at record low levels for an extended period yesterday.

The Commerce Department is set to release its durable goods orders report, which gives the value of orders placed for goods designed to last for more than 3 years, at 8:30 AM ET. Economists look forward to a 2% increase in durable goods orders for December.

The dollar leveled off versus the euro after hitting a fresh 5-month high of 1.3935 last night. Against the yen, the buck was steady at Y90.25, an improvement from a monthly low near Y89 set earlier in the week.

The number of unemployed in Germany rose in January, ending declines in past six consecutive months, as heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures hurt the country's labor market.

The seasonally adjusted number of unemployed increased by 6,000 month-on-month to 3.43 million in January. But, the increase was less than the expected 15,000. The rise in January follows a drop of 3,000 in the previous month.

Eurozone economic sentiment rose for the tenth successive month, a survey conducted by the European Commission showed Thursday. The economic confidence index stood at 95.7 in January, up from a revised reading of 94.1 in the previous month. The expected reading was 92.3.

Meanwhile, retail sales in Japan fell 0.3 percent on year in December, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Thursday. That missed forecasts for a 0.3 percent annual gain after the revised 1.1 percent contraction in November.

The dollar continued to show a lack of direction versus the sterling, easing to 1.6265. The pair has bounced back and forth between 1.6100 and 1.6300 for the past week.

With commodity prices stabilizing this morning, the dollar gave back some of its recent gains versus its Canadian counterpart, slipping a Canadian penny from yesterday's monthly high near C$1.0680.