Investing.com - The dollar held gains against the other major currencies on Friday, as the release of positive U.S. data added to optimism over the strength of the economy, lending broad support to the greenback.
The dollar was higher against the yen, with USD/JPY rising 0.29% to 119.24.
In a preliminary report, the University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index rose to 92.1 this month from a reading of 87.2 in September. Analysts had expected the index to rise to 89.0 in October.
The report came after data showed that industrial production fell 0.2% last month, in line with expectations. Industrial production ticked down 0.1% in August, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 0.4% drop.
Data also showed that U.S. manufacturing production slipped 0.1% in September, compared to expectations for a 0.2% fall. Manufacturing production declined 0.4% in August, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 0.5% slide.
Earlier Friday, Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said that the overall inflation trend is improving and that consumer spending is recovering from a lull earlier this year, dampening expectations that the central bank will increase stimulus measures.
The dollar was also higher against the euro, with EUR/USD slipping 0.19% to 1.1365.
In a final report, Eurostat said the euro zone's consumer price index rose 0.2%, in line with expectations and up from an initial estimate of 0.0%.
Elsewhere, the dollar was steady against the pound, with GBP/USD at 1.5443 and was higher against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF adding 0.17% to 0.9523.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars remained weaker, with AUD/USD declining 0.98% to 0.7256 and with NZD/USD retreating 0.88% to 0.6792.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD gained 0.38% to trade at 1.2909.
Statistics Canada reported on Friday that manufacturing sales fell 0.2% in August, compared to expectations for a 1.0% decline, after a 1.7% rise the previous month.
A separate report showed that Canada's foreign securities purchases increased by C$3.11 billion in August after a C$10.09 billion drop in July, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated C$10.12 billion decline.
Analysts had expected foreign securities purchases to rise by C$2.21 billion in August.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.21% at 94.66.