Dollar index pares gains after durable goods data

NEW YORK: The dollar briefly trimmed its gains against a basket of currencies early Wednesday as weaker-than-expected data on domestic durable goods orders in November revived some worries about the durability of the economic expansion.

The Commerce Department said non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending plans, dropped 0.4 percent last month. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast a less severe 0.1 percent dip.

Economists have blamed a drop in manufacturing and exports in recent months partly on the dollar's surge that has made U.S. goods and services more expensive abroad.

The dollar index which measures the greenback against a basket of six currencies was up 0.1 percent at 98.362. It touched 98.317 shortly after the release of the November durable goods data.