Investing.com - The dollar held steady against other major currencies on Friday, as investors eyed a string of U.S. economic reports due later in the day amid overall optimism over the strength of the economy.
EUR/USD was up 0.09% at 1.0686, off the previous session’s two-week low of 1.0669.
Eurostat said the euro zone consumer price index rose 1.5% in March, below expectations for an increase of 1.8% and following a final reading of a 2.0% advance in the prior month.
Core CPI, which excludes food, energy, alcohol, and tobacco costs, increased by 0.7% in March compared to expectations for a 0.8% rise.
The report came a day after data showed that German annual inflation slowed to 1.6% this month from 2.2% in February, which was the highest rate since August 2012.
Separately, European Central Bank chief economist Peter Praet said on Thursday that the bank is still not convinced that the recent pickup in inflation will be durable and reiterated that underlying inflation pressures remain subdued.
Meanwhile, sentiment on the greenback became more vulnerable ahead of a string of U.S. economic reports due later in the day, although upbeat data released earlier in the week still lent some support.
Markets were also jittery as U.S. President Trump was scheduled later Friday to sign executive orders aimed at identifying abuses that are causing massive U.S. trade deficits and clamping down on non-payment of anti-dumping and anti subsidy duties on imports.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross specified that one of the orders directs a major review of the causes of U.S. trade deficits, including "currency misalignment."
Elsewhere, GBP/USD held steady at 1.2459 after the U.K. Office for National Statistics said its final reading of fourth quarter gross domestic product was an increase of 0.7%, in line with expectations and a previous estimate.
Year-on-hear however, GDP rose 1.9% in the fourth quarter, below expectations and a previous estimate for a growth rate of 2.0%.
A separate report showed that the U.K. current account deficit narrowed to £12.1 billion in the fourth quarter of 2016 from £25.7 billion in the third quarter, whose figure was revised from a previous estimate of 25.5 billion.
Analysts had expected the current account deficit to narrow to just £16.0 billion in the last quarter.
USD/JPY was almost unchanged at 111.92, while USD/CHF slipped 0.10% to 1.002.
Earlier Friday, data showed that Japan’s household spending dropped by an annualized rate of 3.8% last month, compared to expectations for a 1.7% fall.
A separate report showed that Japan’s consumer price index rose 0.2% in February, year-on-year, in line with expectations and up from a 0.1% gain the previous month.
The Australian dollar was stronger, with AUD/USD up 0.12% at 0.7650, while NZD/USD eased 0.10% to 0.6985.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD was little changed at 1.3343.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 100.38, just off a two-and-a-half week high of 100.47 hit overnight.