Investing.com - The dollar traded lower against most major currencies on Friday as tensions between Russia and the Ukraine continued to build, prompting investors to avoid the greenback and seek safety in gold, yen and other safe-haven positions.
In U.S. trading on Friday, EUR/USD was up 0.03% at 1.3837.
Tensions in Ukraine continued to escalate on Friday after Ukrainian troops killed several pro-Russian rebels on Thursday.
Russian troops, meanwhile, conducted military drills close to the border between the two countries, which frayed nerves even more.
In response, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Washington was moving closer to slapping fresh sanctions on Moscow, which steered investors away from the dollar and into safe-haven positions, the yen and gold especially.
Data out of the U.S., however, offset geopolitical tensions.
The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's final April consumer sentiment index came in at 84.1, beating market expectations for a 83.0 reading. April's preliminary reading was 82.6.
The dollar was down against the yen, with USD/JPY down 0.19% at 102.14 and down against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF down 0.07% at 0.8810.
The greenback was flat against the pound, with GBP/USD unchanged at 1.6803.
The dollar was mixed against its cousins in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with USD/CAD up 0.18% at 1.1043, AUD/USD up 0.03% at 0.9266 and NZD/USD up 0.13% at 0.8576.
The US Dollar Index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.04% at 79.82.