Investing.com - The dollar was mostly higher against the other major currencies on Friday, as the greenback regained some ground after weakening broadly on Thursday and as markets eyed the release of U.S. economic reports later in the trading session.
The dollar was steady against the yen, with USD/JPY up 0.03% to 104.38.
The dollar came under pressure on Thursday, after the Department of Labor said the number of people filing continuing unemployment claims rose back over three million to 3.03 million, up from 2.85 million, in the week to January 4.
U.S. employment data is being closely watched by investors since the latest nonfarm payrolls report showed that the economy added just 74,000 news jobs last month, well below expectations for 196,000.
However, the number of initial jobless claims fell by 2,000 last week to a six-week low of 326,000.
The euro was lower against the dollar, with EUR/USD down 0.18% to 1.3596.
The pound climbed against the dollar, with GBP/USD advancing 0.53% to 1.6441.
Official data earlier showed that U.K. retail sales increased by 2.6% in December, far more than the expected 0.4% rise. Retail sales in November were revised down to a 0.1% rise from a previously estimated 0.3% gain.
The dollar was higher against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF adding 0.21% to 0.9067.
In Switzerland, official data showed that producer price inflation was flat last month, confounding expectations for a 0.1% rise, after a 0.1% fall in November.
The greenback was broadly higher against the Australian, New Zealand and Canadian dollars, with AUD/USD sliding 0.40% to 0.8785, NZD/USD tumbling 1.17% to 0.8258 and USD/CAD adding 0.15% to 1.0947.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.07% to 81.08.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release the preliminary reading of the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index, as well as data on building permits, housing starts and industrial production.