Investing.com - The dollar re-approached six-month lows against the other major currencies in quiet trade on Friday, as the Federal Reserve’s cautious stance on future interest rate hikes continued to weigh on demand for the greenback.
USD/JPY was up 0.29% to 108.52, still close to Thursday’s 18-month low of 107.66.
The greenback came under strong pressure against the yen after the minutes from the Fed's March policy meeting on Wednesday indicated that the central bank is unlikely to raise interest rates before June due to concerns over global economic growth.
The dollar briefly strengthened after Fed Chair Janet Yellen said late Thursday that the U.S. economy was not a "bubble economy" and that the labor market was "healing".
Yellen also said that the December decision to raise interest rates was not a mistake.
But the yen was hit on Friday after Japan Finance Minister Minister Taro Aso warned that rapid currency moves were "undesirable," that the yen's were "one-sided" and that Japan would take steps as needed.
EUR/USD edged up 0.15% to 1.1395, moving closer to Thursday’s six-month highs of 1.1454.
Meanwhile, the dollar was lower against the pound and the Swiss franc, with GBP/USD up 0.28% at 1.4097 and with USD/CHF shedding 0.29% to 0.9531.
Sterling shrugged off a report by the U.K. Office for National Statistics saying that manufacturing production declined by 1.1% in February, compared to expectations for a 0.2% fall. Year-on-year, manufacturing production dropped 1.8% in February.
The report also showed that U.K. industrial production slipped by 0.3% in February, compared to expectations for a 0.1% rise.
Another report showed that the U.K. trade deficit narrowed to £11.96 billion in February from a revised deficit of £12.16 billion in January. Analysts had expected the trade deficit to narrow to £10.20 billion in February.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars remained stronger, with AUD/USD up 0.76% at 0.7563 and with NZD/USD climbing 0.58% to 0.6815.
Elsewhere, USD/CAD tumbled 1.20% to trade at 1.2990, after Statistics Canada said that the number of employed people increased by 40,600 in March, blowing past expectations for a 10,000 rise and following a 2,300 decline the previous month.
The report also showed that Canada’s unemployment rate fell to 7.1% last month from 7.3% in February, confounding expectations for an unchanged reading.
Another report showed that Canada’s housing starts increased by 204,300 in March, compared to expectations for a rise of 190,000. Housing starts climbed by 219,100 in February, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 212,600 gain.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.20% at 94.31, close to Thursday’s six-month low of 94.03.