Investing.com - The dollar was steady to higher against the other major currencies on Friday, as investors awaited the release of U.S. home sales data later in the day, while Thursday's upbeat economic reports continued to support.
The dollar was little changed against the euro, with EUR/USD down 0.04% to 1.3713.
The dollar remained supported after the Department of Labor on Thursday said the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week fell by 3,000 to 336,000, slightly below expectations for a decline of 4,000.
The Labor Department also said U.S. consumer prices rose 1.6% on a year-over-year basis in January, in line with forecasts. Consumer prices were 0.1% higher from a month earlier, also matching forecasts.
The pound was higher against the dollar, with GBP/USD adding 0.12% to 1.6669.
Official data showed that U.K. retail sales dropped 1.5% in January, more than the expected 1% decline. Retail sales in December were revised down to a 2.5% increase from a previously estimated 2.6% gain.
On a yearly basis, U.K. retail sales rose 4.3% last month, compared to expectations for a 5% increase, after a 5.3% advance in December.
A separate report showed that public sector net borrowing in the U.K. dropped by 6.4 billion in January, confounding expectations for a 9 billion decline. Public sector net borrowing for December was revised down to a 9 billion increase from a previously estimated 10.4 billion jump.
The dollar was higher against the yen, with USD/JPY up 0.15% to 102.43 and steady against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF inching 0.04% higher to 0.8900.
In the minutes of its January policy meeting, the Bank of Japan said that in order to avoid any misunderstanding about its monetary easing program, the bank needed "to provide a clear explanation that it did not strictly set this to end in two years."
In April last year, the BoJ had announced a policy overhaul that aimed to double the money supply and achieve 2% inflation within about two years.
The greenback was higher against the Australian, New Zealand and Canadian dollars, with AUD/USD edging down 0.09% to 0.8998, NZD/USD down 0.07% to 0.8298 and USD/CAD climbing 0.51% to 1.1156.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.10% to 80.40.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release private sector data on existing homes sales.