Investing.com - The dollar slipped lower against a basket of other major currencies on Friday, but remained supported by Thursday's upbeat retail sales and jobless claims reports.
The dollar strengthened broadly after the U.S. Department of Labor said on Thursday that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending December 6 decreased by 3,000 to 294,000 from the previous week’s total of 297,000.
Separately, the U.S. Commerce Department said that retail sales increased by 0.7% last month, beating expectations for a gain of 0.4%. Retail sales growth for October was revised up to a 0.5% increase from a previously reported gain of 0.3%.
Core retail sales, which exclude automobile sales, advanced by 0.5% in November, easily surpassing forecasts for a 0.1% increase. Core sales in October rose by 0.4%.
The strong retail sales numbers boosted expectations for the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates earlier in 2015 than once anticipated, possibly in the middle of the year.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was down 0.20% at 88.41, not far from Monday's five-year high of 89.53.
EUR/USD edged up 0.18% to 1.2427, after data showed that industrial production in the euro zone rose 0.1% in October, in line with expectations, after a 0.5% increase in September, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 0.6% gain.
Year-on-year, the bloc's industrial production increased 0.7% in October, compared to expectations for a 0.5% rise, after a revised 0.2% uptick in September.
The yen and the Swiss franc edged higher, with USD/JPYslipping 0.21% to 118.44 and USD/CHF down 0.19% to 0.9663.
EUR/CHF was little changed at 1.2009, after the Swiss National Bank left rates unchanged on Thursday and reiterated that it will defend the 1.20 per euro exchange rate cap.
The pound was lower, with GBP/USD falling 0.14% to 1.5709 after the U.K. Office for National Statistics said construction output declined 2.2% in October, disappointing expectations for a 0.8% rise. Construction output rose 2.2% in September, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 1.8% gain.
The Australian dollar and New Zealand dollars were steady, with AUD/NZD at 0.8275 and NZD/USD at 0.7819. Meanwhile, USD/CAD rose 0.29% to trade at 1.1555.
The commodity-linked currencies were under pressure after official data earlier showed that industrial production in China rose 7.2% in November, confounding expectations for an increase of 7.5%, after a 7.7% gain in October.
The lower-than-expected data sparked concerns over a slowdown in the world's second largest economy.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release data on producer prices and a preliminary report on consumer sentiment.