Investing.com - The dollar remained near five-year highs against the other major currencies on Friday, as Thursday's U.S. jobless claims data and the Federal Reserve's most recent policy statement continued to support.
The dollar remained supported after the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending December 12 fell by 6,000 to 289,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 295,000. Economist had forecast an increase of 1,000.
The data came a day after the Fed said it would be "patient" before raising rates, guidance which it said is consistent with earlier assurances statement that rates would stay low "for a considerable time."
Fed Chair Janet Yellen said the central bank was unlikely to raise rates for the "next couple of meetings" indicating that a move in April at the earliest is possible.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was steady at 89.44, not far from last week's five-year high of 89.78.
The dollar edged lower but still remained within close distance of a 19-month peak against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF easing 0.08% to 0.9791, while EUR/CHF held steady at 1.2032.
On Thursday, the Swiss National Bank introduced a negative exchange rate of -0.25% on sight deposit account balances and reiterated its commitment to maintaining the minimum exchange rate of CHF 1.20 per euro.
EUR/USD was almost unchanged, near two-week lows at 1.2291 even as data earlier showed that the Gfk German consumer climate index rose to a six-month high of 9.0 in December from a reading of 8.7 the previous month. Analysts had expected the index to tick up to 8.9 this month.
USD/JPY was up 0.22% to 119.09 after the Bank of Japan said it will boost its monetary base at an annual pace of ¥80 trillion.
The Russian ruble was higher, with USD/RUB dropping 3.99% at 59.50, recovering from record lows hit on Tuesday after a surprise interest rate hike failed to ease selling pressure on the currency from falling oil and western sanctions.
The pound was steady, with GBP/USD at 1.5669 after the Office for National Statistics reported on Friday that U.K. public sector net borrowing rose by £13.41 billion last month, compared to expectations for an increase of £15.37 billion.
Separately, the Confederation of British Industry said its index of realized sales climbed to a 26-year high of 61 this month from 27 in November, blowing bast expectations for an increase to 30.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were higher, with AUD/USD up 0.21% to 0.8182 and NZD/USD rising 0.30% to 0.7785.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD gained 0.30% to trade at 1.1614 after Statistics Canada reported that consumer price inflation fell 0.4% in November, confounding expectations for a 0.1% downtick, after a 0.1% rise in October.
Core CPI, which excludes the eight most volatile items, slipped 0.2% last month, disappointing expectations for a 0.1% gain, after a 0.3% rise in October.
A separate report showed that Canadian retail sales were flat in October, beating expectations for a 0.2% fall, after an increase of 0.8% the previous month.
Core retail sales, which exclude automobiles, rose 0.2% in October, compared to expectations for a 0.1% gain, after a flat reading in September.