Investing.com - The dollar held steady against the other major currencies on Friday, as sentiment on the greenback remained fragile ahead of a string of U.S. economic reports due later in the day.
USD/JPY held steady at 113.01.
Investors were eyeing the release of U.S. economic growth, personal spending and consumer sentiment data, due later Friday, for further indications on the strength of the economy and potential U.S. rate hikes this year.
The dollar had found support after data showed that U.S. durable goods orders rose far more-than-expected last month.
Meanwhile, oil prices rose back above $33 a barrel overnight, following reports Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Venezuela and Russia will meet in March to discuss capping crude oil production.
Earlier Friday, data showed that Tokyo’s consumer price index rose at an annual rate of 0.1% in February, compared to expectations for a 0.3% fall and after a 0.3% slip the previous month.
Tokyo’s core CPI, which excludes fresh food, ticked down 0.1% this month, confounding expectations for a 0.2% fall and after a 0.1% decline in January.
The dollar was lower against the pound, with GBP/USD up 0.33% at 1.4009, moving away from Wednesday’s seven-year low of 1.3875.
But sterling’s gains were expected to remain limited as concerns over a potential Brexit still lingered.
Several senior members of Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservative party, including London Mayor Boris Johnson, said this week that they will be backing the campaign to leave the EU, in a blow to his plans to remain in the bloc.
Earlier Friday, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said that global growth was a "serial disappointment" and that monetary stimulus did have value as it supports economic activity.
Carney was speaking at the G20 Conference, in Shanghai.
The dollar was almost unchanged against the euro, with EUR/USD at 1.1015, while USD/CHF edged up 0.18% to trade at 0.9921.
Meanwhile, the Australian dollar was weaker, with AUD/USD down 0.28% at 0.7216, while NZD/USD gained 0.46% to 0.6752.
USD/CAD slipped 0.10% to 1.3518.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 97.45.