Investing.com - The dollar remained broadly lower against the other major currencies on Friday, amid declining expectations for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates before the end of the year despite comments by Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart saying otherwise.
The dollar was higher against the yen, with USD/JPY up 0.30% at 120.27.
The Fed's September meeting minutes released on Thursday indicated that policymakers were still watching domestic inflation and the impact of slower global growth when considering when to raise interest rates.
The minutes fuelled further speculation that the U.S. central bank won't be raising interest rates this year.
The dollar showed little reaction when Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart said that the Fed is still to likely raise interest rates later this month or in December.
Meanwhile, the yen remained under pressure amid expectations that the Bank of Japan could ease monetary policy as soon as its October meeting.
The dollar was lower against the euro, with EUR/USD gaining 0.58% to 1.1342.
Elsewhere, the dollar turned higher against the pound, with GBP/USD down 0.22% at 1.5314 and remained lower against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF sliding 0.41% to 0.9621.
Sterling wekened after the Office for National Statistics reported on Friday that the U.K. trade deficit narrowed to £11.15 billion in August from £12.20 billion in July, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated deficit of 11.08 billion.
Analysts had expected the trade deficit to narrow to £10.00 billion in August.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were stronger, with AUD/USD up 0.92% to 0.7325 and with NZD/USD advancing 0.43% to 0.6696.
Earlier Friday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said that home loans increased by 2.9% in August, compared to expectations for a 5.0% gain. Home loans fell 0.3% in July, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 0.3% rise.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD declined 0.43% to trade at 1.2959, off three-month lows of 1.2901 hit earlier in the session.
Statistics Canada reported on Friday that the number of employed people rose by 12,100 in September, beating expectations for an increase of 10,000, after a 12,000 gain the previous month.
However, the report also showed that Canada's unemployment rate ticked up to 7.1% last month from 7.0% in August, disappointing expectations for a fall to 6.9%.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.39% at 95.03, the lowest level since September 18.