Investing.com - The dollar held onto modest gains against the other major currencies on Friday, after the release of positive U.S. personal spending and personal income data, while investors eyed the release of additional U.S. reports due later in the day.
The U.S. Commerce Department that personal spending rose 0.1% in May, in line with expectations and after an increase of 0.4% the previous month.
Meanwhile, personal income rose by 0.4% in May, compared to expectations for a 0.3% gain.
EUR/USD was down 0.22% to 1.1415, just off the previous session’s 13-month peak of 1.1445, after Eurostat earlier said consumer price inflation rose by an annualized rate of 1.3% in June, above expectations for an increase of 1.2%.
Core CPI, which excludes food, energy, alcohol, and tobacco costs, increased by 1.1% in June, compared to expectations for a 1.0% rise.
The euro had strengthened broadly after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi indicated on Tuesday that the bank could soon start to unwind its quantitative easing program.
GBP/USD slipped 0.18% to 1.2983, still close to a six-week high of 112.19 overnight.
The U.K. Office for National Statistics reported on Friday that gross domestic product rose 0.2% in the first quarter, in line with expectations and a previous estimate. Year-on-year, the U.K. economy grew 2.0%.
A separate report showed that the U.K. current account deficit widened to £16.9 billion in the first quarter from £12.1 billion in the three months to December.
Analysts had expected the current account deficit to widen even more to £17.3 billion in the last quarter.
The pound strengthened broadly after Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said Wednesday that some removal of monetary stimulus is likely to become necessary as spare capacity in the economy erodes.
Elsewhere, USD/JPY edged down 0.11% to 112.07, while USD/CHF rose 0.22% to trade at 0.9580.
The Australian dollar was steady, with AUD/USD at 0.7686, while NZD/USD advanced 0.47% to 0.7333.
Earlier Friday, data showed that China’s official manufacturing purchasing manager’s index rose to 51.7 in June from 51.2 the previous month. Analysts had expected the index to slip to 51.0 this month.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD fell 0.26% to trade at 1.2972 after Statistics Canada reported that GDP rose 0.2% in May, in line with expectations, after a growth rate of 0.5% the previous month.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.17% at 95.47, off a fresh eight-month low of 95.37 hit overnight.