The U.S. dollar climbed against its major counterparts in the European session on Thursday, amid optimism over progress by Congress on tax legislation and easing fears over a government shutdown.

The House of Representatives advanced a bill to approve temporary spending late Wednesday in order to avert a government shutdown on Friday.

The chamber is set to vote on a two-week extension for spending measure later in the day, followed by a Senate vote on Friday.

The Senate voted 51-47 to form a Conference Committee on Wednesday to reconcile differences with the House on tax reform bill. If both the chambers agree on a joint tax bill, it should be passed by them to get it passed by Trump.

Data from the Labor Department showed that first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits dropped modestly in the week ended December 2.

The report said initial jobless claims edged down to 236,000, a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 238,000. The drop surprised economists, who had expected jobless claims to inch up to 240,000.

The currency has been trading in a positive territory in the Asian session.

The greenback rose to a new 2-week high of 1.1776 against the euro and held steady thereafter. The pair finished Wednesday's trading at 1.1796.

The greenback advanced to a 2-day high of 112.80 against the yen and more than a 2-week high of 0.9941 against the franc, from its early lows of 112.22 and 0.9874, respectively. If the greenback rises further, 114.00 and 1.02 are likely seen as its next resistance levels against the yen and the franc, respectively.

The greenback climbed to a 9-day high of 1.3320 against the pound, from an early low of 1.3421, and held steady thereafter. The pair was valued at 1.3390 when it closed deals on Wednesday.

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