Investing.com - The dollar remained broadly higher against the other major currencies on Wednesday, despite the release of disappointing U.S. economic reports, although the greenback remained within close distance of an eight-month low struck on Tuesday.
USD/JPY gained 0.41% to 109.07, off the almost 18-month low of 107.62 set on Monday.
The U.S. Census Bureau said that retail sales fell by 0.3% in March, disappointing expectations for an uptick of 0.1% and after a 0.1% fall the previous month.
Core retail sales, which exclude automobiles, rose by 0.2% last month, compared to expectations for a 0.4% gain, after a 0.1% slip in February.
A separate report showed that the U.S. producer price index fell by 0.1% in March, confounding expectations for an increase of 0.2% and after a 0.2% decline the previous month. Year-on-year, producer prices slipped 0.1% last month, compared to expectations for a 0.3% gain.
Core PPI, which excludes food and energy, slipped 0.1% last month, disappointing expectations for a 0.1% uptick and following a flat reading in February.
The dollar rebounded earlier Wednesday from sharp losses posted after recent dovish comments by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen prompted investors to push back expectations on the timing of the next interest rate increase.
EUR/USD was down 0.60% at 1.1319, off Tuesday’s six-month peaks of 1.1464.
Meanwhile, the dollar was higher against the pound and the Swiss franc, with GBP/USD down 0.11% at 1.4245 and with USD/CHF advancing 0.70% to 0.9623.
The Australian dollar was weaker, with AUD/USD down 0.39% at 0.7656, while NZD/USD held steady at 0.6924.
Elsewhere, USD/CAD edged up 0.11% to trade at 1.2786.
The commodity currencies came under pressure after Saudi Arabia's oil minister appeared to rule out a production freeze ahead of Sunday’s meeting of major producers in Doha.
Oil prices had surged to five-month highs on Tuesday following reports Russia and Saudi Arabia had already reached a deal on an oil output freeze.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.49% at 94.48, still close to the previous session’s eight-month low of 93.62.