Investing.com - The dollar was little changed against the other major currencies on Friday, after data showed that the U.S. economy grew at a slower pace than expected in the fourth quarter and as investors eyed additional U.S. reports to be released later in the day.
In a report, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said that U.S. gross domestic product rose 2.6% in the last quarter of 2014, down from a previous estimate of 3.0% and from a growth rate of 5.0% in the three months to September.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.09% at 94.87, still close to last Friday's more than 11-year highs of 95.77.
EUR/USD edged up 0.08% to 1.1326 after Eurostat reported that the annual rate of euro zone inflation fell by 0.6% in January, after a 0.2% slip in December. Economists had expected an annual decline of 0.5%.
Core inflation, which strips out volatile measures such as food and energy costs, rose 0.5% on a year-over-year basis, but was still well below the European Central Bank's target of close to, but just under 2%.
In a separate report, Eurostat said the euro zone’s unemployment rate ticked down to 11.4% in December from 11.5% the previous month, confounding expectations for the rate to remain unchanged.
Earlier Friday, official data showed that French consumer spending increased by 1.5% in December, exceeding expectations for a 0.2% rise, while a separate report showed that Spanish GDP rose 0.7% in the fourth quarter of 2014, above expectations for a 0.6% gain.
In Germany, retail sales gained 0.2% last month, official data showed, disappointing expectations for a 0.3% rise.
The pound was almost unchanged, with GBP/USD at 1.5066 after data showed that U.K. net lending to individuals fell to £2.2 billion in December from a revised £3.1 billion in November.
Data also showed that U.K. mortgage approvals rose by 60,280 last month after a downwardly revised 58,960 increase in November, compared to expectations for a 59,000 rise.
In addition, the U.K. Gfk consumer confidence index improved to 1 this month from minus 4 in December, compared to expectations for a reading of minus 2.
Elsewhere, USD/CHF held steady at 0.9234, while USD/JPY dropped 0.60% to 117.58.
A preliminary report earlier showed that Japanese industrial production rose 1.0% in December, confounding expectations for an increase of 1.3%, while a separate report showed that household spending in Japan rose 0.4% last month, below expectations for a 0.3% gain.
In Switzerland, the KOF Economic Research Agency said that its economic barometer fell to 97.0 this month from 98.8 in December, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated reading of 98.7. Analysts had expected the index to decline to 97.5 in January.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were mixed, with AUD/USD adding 0.15% just off five-and-a-half year lows at 0.7770, while NZD/USD fell 0.28% close to a three-year trough at 0.7247.
The Canadian dollar hit fresh six-year lows, with USD/CAD climbing 0.89% to 1.2727 after Statistics Canada said the country's GPD fell 0.2% in November, compared to expectations for a 0.1% downtick and after a 0.3% gain in October.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release reports on business activity in the Chicago region and revised data on consumer sentiment.