Early trade in New York: risk-on trade pulls dollar higher

The dollar rallied on Thursday as investors plowed cash back into riskier asset classes, with an underpinning of promising data from the United States and better-than-expected manufacturing data in Europe and China. The dollar was up 0.14 percent against a basket of major currencies, trading at 85.806. It benefited from both rising US Treasury yields, which illustrated an easing of investor concerns after last week's phalanx of selling, and a continuing US equities rally.
On the data front, the Conference Board's US Leading Economic Index increased 0.8 percent in September after being flat in August, pointing to solid economic growth for the remainder of the year. New claims for US unemployment benefits rose last week, but the underlying trend remained consistent with a firming labour market, data showed on Thursday. The dollar rose nearly 1 percent to 108.17 yen. The euro climbed nearly 1 percent to 136.82 yen. The euro pulled up from a two-week low against the dollar earlier on Thursday, helped by the pick-up in eurozone business growth, but traded near the unchanged mark at $1.2647.