Investing.com - The dollar remained broadly lower against the other major currencies on Friday, as mostly downbeat U.S. economic reports weighed on the greenback and as concerns over declining oil prices continued to support demand for the safe-haven yen and Swiss franc.
USD/JPY tumbled 0.94% to 116.93.
The University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index rose to 93.3 this month from 92.6 in December, beating expectations for a rise to 93.0.
The report came after the U.S. Census Bureau said retail sales fell 0.1% in December, compared to expectations for a 0.1% rise.
Core retail sales, which exclude automobiles, slipped 0.1% last month, disappointing expectations for a 0.2% gain.
A separate report showed that the U.S. producer price index slipped 0.2% in December, in line with expectations. Core PPI, which excludes food and energy, inched up 0.1% last month, in line with expectations.
In addition, the Federal Reserve of New York said its Empire State manufacturing index deteriorated to minus 19.37 this month from a revised reading of minus 6.21 in December. Analysts had expected the index to improve to minus 4.00 in January.
Data also showed that U.S. industrial production declined by 0.4% in December, compared to expectations for a 0.2% downtick, while manufacturing production fell 0.1% after a 0.1% slip.
Meanwhile, the yen remained supported as Brent crude, the global benchmark, fell below the $30 per barrel threshold on Friday, the lowest level since 2004, pressured by concerns over a global supply glut.
The ongoing oil rout weighed heavily on the commodity-related Australian, Canadian and New Zealand dollars.
AUD/USD plummeted 1.39% to nearly six-year lows of 0.6887 and NZD/USD dropped 0.69% to three-month lows of 0.6433, while USD/CAD climbed 0.78% to an almost 13-year peak of 1.4477.
Meanwhile, EUR/USD advanced 0.85% to trade at 1.0957.
Elsewhere, the dollar was higher against the pound, with GBP/USD down 0.43% to fresh five-and-a-half year lows of 1.4351, and was lower against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF declining 0.66% to 0.9983.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.50% at 98.61.