The U.S dollar gained ground Wednesday against the EUR and the British pound, after strong data on orders for new U.S.-made durable goods and new home sales comforted expectations of an improvement in the economy. The greenback traded higher after the durable-goods orders report said orders for July rose by 4.9%, the largest increase in 2 years. Investors will be watching for the new U.S. jobs report today before making significant moves.

Today Traders Focus on the U.S Unemployment Claims

The Dollar rallied yesterday against most of its major counterparts after data suggesting the slowdown in the U.S. housing market has bottomed out. A better-then-expected result gave further support to the U.S. currency. The Dollar has been sold off recently partly due to growing optimism regarding the state of the U.S. economy. The USD finished yesterday’s trading session about 50 pips higher against the EUR at the1.4249 level.

Yesterday’s main U.S economic event was the New Home Sales data. New U.S. home sales hit its highest level in 10 months in July. Orders for Long-Lasting Manufactured Goods also surged yesterday and are interpreted by traders as fresh evidence of a modest economic recovery. Sales of “New Single-family Homes” rose by 9.6% from June, the highest rate since September. It is in fact the biggest percentage gain since a matching increase in February 2005, another indication that housing activity had stabilized after a three-year slump.

Looking ahead to today, there are few important news releases coming out of the U.S. These include the Prelim GDP and Unemployment Claims at 12.30 GMT. Traders will be paying close attention to today’s announcement as a stronger than expected result may continue to boost the USD in the short-term. On the other hand, if the results turn out to be lower than forecast, then the Dollar may record a fairly bearish session in today’s trading.