Investing.com - The dollar was broadly higher against a basket of other major currencies on Friday, as investors eyed the release of U.S. consumer sentiment data later in the day and as Thursday's positive U.S. retail sales report continued to support.
The dollar found support after the U.S. Commerce Department reported on Thursday that retail sales increased by 1.2% last month, beating expectations for a gain of 1.1%, and that core retail sales, which exclude automobile sales, rose by 1.0% in May, compared to forecasts for a 0.7% increase.
At the same time, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending June 6 increased unexpectedly by 2,000 to 279,000.
Investors were looking ahead to a preliminary report on U.S. consumer sentiment due later in the day, for further indications on the strength of the economy.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.65% at 95.59, the highest since June 8.
EUR/USD dropped 0.85% to 1.1162 after the International Monetary Fund pulled out of Greek debt talks on Thursday as it accused Athens of failing to compromise over labour market and pension reforms.
The IMF said its team of negotiators had quit talks in Brussels after reaching a stalemate and would be returning to Washington.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was scheduled to resume talks in Brussels with European commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Friday. However, such a meeting is now in doubt.
A government spokesman said Greece's negotiating team is "ready" to intensify efforts to wrap up a deal "even in the next 24 hours."
USD/JPY rose 0.28% to 123.77 as market participants chose to forget comments by Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda on Wednesday suggesting that the relative value of the yen may not continue to fall.
Elsewhere, GBP/USD fell 0.16% to 1.5494, while USD/CHF advanced 0.42% to trade at 0.9365.
The Australian and the New Zealand dollars were weaker, with AUD/USD dropping 0.88% to 0.7688 and with NZD/USD down 0.73% to 0.6960.
Earlier Friday, data showed that New Zealand's Business Manufacturing Index ticked down to 51.5 in May from a reading of 51.8 the previous month.
USD/CAD added 0.28% to trade at 1.2325.