The dollar was under pressure on the foreign exchanges Thursday as fresh evidence of the weakness of the U.S. economy intensified speculation about a cut in interest rates from the Federal Reserve next week.

Data for durable goods orders, weekly jobless claims and sales of new homes all increased expectation on Wall Street that the U.S. central bank would ignore the plight of the greenback and take steps to boost the economy.
The dollar was Thursday within a whisker of its record low against the euro and trading at around $2.05 against the British pound.

A sharp drop in Pentagon orders for new planes was the main factor behind the 1.7% drop in durable goods orders last month, but analysts pointed out that even when volatile goods such as military hardware and aircraft were stripped out orders were 5.6% lower than a year ago.