The U.S. dollar weakened against most of major currencies Thursday and plunged versus the British pound after data showed Britain had escaped the threat of triple- dip recession.

Britain's Office for National Statistic on Thursday reported that the country's gross domestic product (GDP) went up 0.3 percent year on year for the first quarter of the year.

The markets expected a moderate return to growth, and the sterling had appreciated ahead of the announcement, said Chris Redfern, a senior dealer at the Moneycorp, who warned "British consumer and business confidence remain fragile and the chances of the recovery yo-yoing again should not be ruled out, but the UK appears to be back on the right track."

The euro slipped against the dollar as recent pessimistic data released in the eurozone fueled expectations that the European Central Bank may cut interest rates further.

The yen erased gains against the dollar on less demand for safe- haven assets after the U.S. weekly report of unemployment claims. The Bank of Japan will hold policy meeting on April 26.

In the week ending April 20, the number of Americans initially applying for unemployment benefits dropped 16,000 to 339,000, the Labor Department said.

In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.3016 dollars from 1.3022 dollars of the previous session and the British pound jumped to 1.5443 dollars from 1.5267 dollars. The Australian dollar climbed to 1.0297 dollars from 1.0284 dollars.

The dollar bought 99.34 Japanese yen, lower than 99.50 yen of the previous session. It edged down to 0.9453 Swiss francs from 0. 9467 Swiss francs and went down to 1.0202 Canadian dollars from 1. 0255 Canadian dollars of the previous trading day. Endi

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