LONDON -- The dollar came off highs in late afternoon trading Thursday but remained firmer on the day, as investors awaited fresh news of coalition forces in Iraq before taking further positions, analysts said.

The single European currency dropped to 1.0728 dollars from 1.0764 late on Wednesday in New York.

The dollar climbed to 119.56 yen from 118.90 on Wednesday.

"It has calmed down a bit this afternoon but this morning people took reports that troops were 15 kilometers (nine miles) from Baghdad to be the beginning of the end of the conflict," said Garry Noone, analyst at MMS.

Analysts said the morning's weak batch of euro-zone data was also weighing a little on sentiment in the euro.

But the European Central Bank's decision to hold rates, which was expected, and the ensuing comments from its president, Wim Duisenberg, had virtually no impact on the euro, market participants said.

Duisenberg said the ECB council had substantial discussions on interest rates, but "without any bias in any direction".

He said that after discussion the ECB Governing Council believes it was not yet possible to assess what effect the war will have on the global economy, and on economic developments and the medium-term outlook for price stability in the euro area.

Dismal U.S. figures had little effect on the dollar's movement with investors remaining focused on news from Iraq.

The institute for supply management said its overall index of non-manufacturing activity fell to 47.9 in march from 53.9 in February.

But analysts said Friday's U.S. Labor data could have some impact.

"The market is expecting that non-farm payroll employment fell by 31,000 in March and the risk is it could be three times that number," David Mann, forex strategist at Standard Chartered said. (AFP)