Investing.com - The dollar was trading close to session highs against the yen on Tuesday after data showed that U.S. retail sales rose more-than-forecast in December, while the Canadian dollar re-approached four-year lows following comments from the country’s junior finance minister.
USD/JPY hit highs of 103.78 and was last up 0.65% to 103.65.
The Commerce Department said U.S. retail sales rose 0.2% last month, beating expectations for a 0.1% increase.
Core retail sales, which exclude automobile sales, climbed 0.7% in December, above forecasts for a 0.4% increase.
The data helped bolster expectations that the economic recovery in the U.S. will continue to deepen going into this year.
The dollar was slightly lower against the euro, with EUR/USD easing up 0.09% to 1.3683.
The euro remained supported after European Central Bank Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny said Tuesday there was a potential upside to the ECB’s growth forecast for this year.
The ECB revised its growth forecast for 2014 slightly higher in December, saying it expects growth of 1.1% this year.
Meanwhile, data released on Tuesday showed that industrial production in the euro zone rose by a larger than forecast 1.8% in November, easing concerns over the outlook for growth.
The dollar was lower against the pound, with GBP/USD advancing 0.45% to 1.6456.
In the U.K., data on Tuesday showed that the annual rate of consumer inflation rose 2.0% in December, slowing from 2.1% in November. It was the first time since 2009 that the U.K. inflation rate was in line with the Bank of England’s official target of 2%.
The dollar was higher against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF up 0.19% to 0.9008.
The Australian dollar retreated further from Monday’s one-month highs, with AUD/USD down 0.73% to 0.8989, while NZD/USD was up 0.34% to 0.8403.
Elsewhere, USD/CAD was up 0.70% to 1.0935, just below the four year highs of 1.0944 struck on Friday.
Canada’s dollar extended losses after the country’s junior Finance Minister Kevin Sorenson said Tuesday the Canadian manufacturing sector was happy with the lower exchange rate.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, edged up 0.08% to 80.68.