By Deborah Levine
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Treasury prices turned up and the dollar remained under pressure Thursday after a report showed the number of Americans applying for initial unemployment benefits climbed by 19,000 to 479,000 in the latest week. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected claims to drop to 453,000. Yields on 10-year notes (UST10Y 2.95, -0.01, -0.24%) , which move inversely to prices, fell 2 basis points to 2.93%. The dollar index (DXY 80.61, -0.29, -0.36%) , a measure of the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of major currencies, slipped to 80.615, down from 80.981 in late North American trading Wednesday. The euro (EURUSD 1.3214, +0.0062, +0.4714%) rose to $1.3215, up from $1.3157. Traders are also tuning into European Central bank President Jean-Claude Trichet's press conference which began at the same time as the data was released.