Investing.com - The dollar pushed higher against a basket of other major currencies on Friday, as the U.S. currency recovered from sharp losses posted after the Federal Reserve's most recent policy statement and as Greek debt concerns weighed on risk sentiment.
The greenback had come under broad selling pressure after the Federal Reserve lowered both its U.S. growth forecast and its interest-rate projections at its policy meeting on Wednesday, prompting investors to push back expectations on the timing of an initial rate hike.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.41% at 94.59, off Thursday's one-month lows of 93.30.
EUR/USD dropped 0.51% to 1.1305 as concerns over Greece's future in the euro zone persisted after a meeting between Greek and euro area officials broke down on Thursday.
The current bailout for Greece expires on 30 June when Athens is also due to repay the International Monetary Fund around €1.6 billion.
IMF Chief Christine Lagarde said if the payment is not made on time, Greece will be declared to be in default and would disqualify itself from receiving any further IMF funds.
The pound was also lower, with GBP/USD down 0.20% to 1.5844, off Thursday's seven-month highs of 1.5930.
Earlier Friday, the Office for National Statistics reported on Friday that U.K. public sector net borrowing hit £9.35 billion last month, up from £5.46 billion in April, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated £6.04 billion.
Analysts had expected public sector net borrowing to climb to £10.05 billion in May.
Elsewhere, the dollar was higher against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY up 0.18% to 123.17 and with USD/CHF adding 0.27% to 0.9239.
At its monthly policy meeting on Friday, the Bank of Japan maintained its pledge to increase base money at an annual pace of ¥80 trillion through aggressive asset purchases. The decision was made by an 8-1 vote.
Commenting on the decision, BoJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said that with capital expenditure growing and business sentiment improving, inflation is likely to reach the 2% target without the need for more monetary easing.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were weaker, with AUD/NZD down 0.71% to 0.7741 and with NZD/USD retreating 0.50% to 0.6891, close to Wednesday's five-year lows of 0.6873.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD advanced 0.49% to trade at 1.2281 after data showed that Canadian retail sales slipped 0.1% in April, confounding expectations for a 0.7% rise, while core retail sales, which exclude automobiles, fell 0.6% compared to expectations for a 0.3% gain.
A separate report showed that Canada's consumer prices rose 0.6% in May, beating expectations for an uptick of 0.5%. Year-on-year, consumer prices increased by 0.9% last month.
Core consumer prices, which exclude the eight most volatile items, ticked up 0.4% in May, compared to expectations for a 0.3% gain.