Investing.com - The dollar remained lower against the other major currencies on Friday, after the release of downbeat U.S. economic reports dampened expectations for a rate hike in the near future.
In a preliminary report, the University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index ticked down to 93.1 in July from 93.3 the previous month, confounding expectations for a rise to 94.0.
The data came shortly after the Labor Department reported on Friday that U.S. employment costs rose 0.2%, the lowest gain since 1982, compared to expectations for a 0.6% increase. U.S. employment costs rose 0.7% in the three months to March.
Data also showed that the Chicago purchasing managers' index rose to 54.7 this month from 49.4 in June, swinging into expansion territory for the first time since April. Analysts had expected the index to rise to 50.5 in July.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.97% at 96.67, the lowest level since July 27.
EUR/USD rallied 1.35% to 1.1080, off the previous session's one-week lows of 1.0892.
The single currency found some support after data showed that the euro zone's consumer price inflation rose 0.2% in July, in line with expectations and unchanged from the previous montth.
Core CPI, which excludes food, energy, alcohol, and tobacco costs, increased by 1.0% this month, above expectations for an uptick of 0.8%.
A separate report showed that the euro zone's unemployment rate remained unchanged at 11.1% last month, in line with expectations.
The dollar slid lower against the yen, with USD/JPY down 0.33% to 123.72, after hitting one-and-a-half month highs of 124.58 on Thursday.
In Japan, data earlier showed that household spending dropped 3.0% in June, confounding expectations for a 0.5% downtick, after a 2.4% increase the previous month.
Data also showed that consumer prices in Tokyo rose 0.2% this month, in line with market expectations.
The dollar pulled back from Thursday's three-month highs of 0.9726 against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF down 1.33% to 0.9563, and turned lower against the pound, with GBP/USD adding 0.18% to 1.5628.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were stronger, with AUD/USD up 0.67% at 0.7342 and with NZD/USD gaining 0.49% to 0.6635.
Data on Friday showed that the ANZ Business Confidence Index for New Zealand fell to minus 15.3 in July from minus 2.3 the previous month.
In Australia, data showed that producer prices rose 0.3% in the second quarter, disappointing expectations for a 0.6% gain, after an uptick of 0.5% in the three months to March.
USD/CAD was up 0.22% to 1.3028 after Statistics Canada reported that the country's GDP fell 0.2% in May, disappointing expectations for a 0.1% rise, after a 0.1% downtick the previous month.