Investing.com - The dollar remained broadly lower against the other major currencies on Friday, as the release of lower than expected U.S. economic growth data dampened demand for the greenback, while markets still eyed additional U.S. reports to be released later in the day.
The dollar pushed lower against the euro, with EUR/USD up 0.71% to 1.3807.
Preliminary data showed that the U.S. gross domestic product rose 2.4% in the fourth quarter, slightly below expectations for a 2.5% expansion, after a 3.2% increase in the three months to September.
The report came a day after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen on Thursday said the central bank will probably continue tapering its asset purchases while tracking data to figure how much recent softness in the economy is due to the weather.
The single currency strengthened earlier, after preliminary data showed that consumer price inflation in the euro zone remained unchanged at an annualized rate of 0.8% in February, compared for expectations for a downtick to 0.7%.
A separate report showed that the unemployment rate in the single currency bloc remained unchanged at 12% in January, in line with expectations.
The positive data eased speculation that the European Central Bank could cut interest rates at its policy meeting next week.
Earlier in the day, official data showed that German retail sales rose 2.5% last month, exceeding expectations for a 1% increase. Retail sales in December were revised to a 2.1% drop from a previously estimated 2.5% decline.
The pound was higher against the dollar, with GBP/USD adding 0.12% to 1.6709.
The Nationwide Building Society earlier said that U.K. house price inflation rose 0.6% in February, in line with expectations. In January, house price inflation was revised up to a 0.8% increase from a previously estimated 0.7% rise.
The dollar was lower against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY slipping 0.26% to 101.86 and with USD/CHF declining 0.87% to 0.8805.
In Japan, oreliminary data showed that industrial production in Japan rose 4% in January, more than the expected 3% increase, after a 0.9% gain the previous month.
A separate report showed that retail sales in Japan rose 4.4% last month compared to a year earlier, after a 2.6% increase in December. Analysts had expected retail sales to rise 3.8% in January.
Data also showed that household spending in Japan rose at an annualized rate of 1.1% last month, beating expectations for a 0.2% uptick, after a 0.7% rise in December.
The greenback was steady to lower against the Australian, New Zealand and Canadian dollars, with AUD/USD down 0.07% to 0.8960, NZD/USD climbing 0.59% to 0.8418 and USD/CAD shedding 0.34% to 1.1083.
Data showed that the ANZ business confidence index for New Zealand rose to a nearly 20-year high of 70.8 in February, from a reading of 64.1 the previous month.
In Canada, official data showed that the GDP fell 0.5% in December, compared to expectations for a 0.2% contraction, after a 0.2% expansion the previous month.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.57% to 79.83.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release a report on manufacturing activity in the Chicago region, revised data on consumer sentiment and private sector data on pending home sales.