Dollar higher ahead of U.S. GDP data while stocks struggle for direction

The greenback continued to be supported against its rivals on Thursday as investors awaited U.S. GDP numbers due later in the day.

The U.S. dollar index was up 0.34% to hit 97.55.

The key event for market players is likely to be the release of U.S. second-quarter gross domestic product data due at 8:30 a.m. Analysts mostly expect that the economy rebounded following a contraction in the first quarter after an unusually harsh winter. Analysts expect second-quarter GDP rose at a 2.5% annual clip, bouncing back from a negative 0.2% reading in the first quarter.

Other data includes the weekly jobless claims and a new (very first time) advance trade in goods report. 

EUR/USD was down 0.35% to 1.0947 from 1.0983 late Wednesday.

The dollar rose to almost two-week highs against the yen, with USD/JPY up 0.40% to 124.44.

The greenback climbed to three month highs against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF up 0.36% to 0.9710, but was slightly lower against the pound, with GBP/USD up 0.10% to 1.5617.

Meanwhile, U.S. stocks were fluctuating as investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of second-quarter growth data that could also impact the timing of the first Federal Reserve interest-rate hike.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 8 points, or 0.1%, to 17,673, while those for the S&P 500 index fell 1.50 points, or 0.1%, to 2,100.

Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index added 4.25 points, or 0.1%, to 4,569.25.

In Asia, the Shanghai Composite closed with a 2.2% drop, but Japan's Nikkei got a 1% lift from a weak yen.