Investing.com - The dollar extended losses against the other major currencies on Friday, as downbeat U.S. economic reports dampened demand for the greenback and as concerns over declining oil prices continued to support demand for the safe-haven yen and Swiss franc.
USD/JPY tumbled 1.08% to 116.76.
The U.S. Census Bureau said that retail sales fell 0.1% in December, compared to expectations for a 0.1% rise. Retail sales increased by 0.4% in November, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 0.2% gain.
Core retail sales, which exclude automobiles, slipped 0.1% last month, disappointing expectations for a 0.2% gain.
A separate report showed that the U.S. producer price index slipped 0.2% in December, in line with expectations. Core PPI, which excludes food and energy, inched up 0.1% last month, in line with expectations.
In addition, the Federal Reserve of New York said its Empire State manufacturing index deteriorated to minus 19.37 this month from minus 6.21 in December, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated reading of minus 4.59.
Analysts had expected the index to improve to minus 4.00 in January.
Meanwhile, the yen remained supported as Brent crude, the global benchmark, fell below the $30 per barrel threshold on Friday, the lowest level since 2004, pressured by concerns over a global supply glut.
The ongoing oil rout weighed heavily on the commodity-related Australian, Canadian and New Zealand dollars.
AUD/USD plummeted 1.51% to nearly six-year lows of 0.6878 and NZD/USD tumbled 1.17% to three-month lows of 0.6398, while USD/CAD climbed 0.86% to an almost 13-year peak of 1.4492.
Meanwhile, EUR/USD advanced 0.77% to trade at 1.0951.
Elsewhere, the dollar was higher against the pound, with GBP/USD down 0.51% to fresh five-and-a-half year lows of 1.4339, and was lower against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF declining 0.52% to 0.9995.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.48% at 98.61.