Investing.com - The dollar pared losses against other major currencies on Friday, after the release of mixed U.S. economic reports, while the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting still dampened demand for the greenback.
EUR/USD was steady at 1.0585, off session highs of 1.0618.
The U.S. Commerce Department said new home sales rose by 3.7% to 555,000 units in January from the prior month’s revised reading of 535,000. Analysts had expected a 6.3% increase to 570,000 units last month.
Separately, the University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index hit 96.3 in February, up from an initial estimate of 95.7 and compared to expectations for a reading of 96.0.
Late Wednesday, the minutes of the Fed’s January policy meeting showed that policymakers thought it may be appropriate to raise interest rates again "fairly soon."
However, the minutes also revealed the central bank’s uncertainty over the lack of clarity of the Trump administration's economic program, dampening demand for the greenback.
Elsewhere, GBP/USD dropped 0.52% to 1.2490, off a more than two-week high of 1.2571 hit earlier in the day.
USD/JPY fell 0.27% to 112.31, while USD/CHF edged down 0.10% to 1.0052.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were weaker, with AUD/USD down 0.38% at 0.7685 and with NZD/USD shedding 0.29% to 0.7208.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD was little changed at 1.3096.
The loonie initially strengthened after Statistics Canada reported that the consumer price index rose 0.9% last month, beating expectations for an uptick of 0.3% and after a 0.2% fall in December.
Year-on-year, consumer prices advanced 2.1% last month, compared to expectations for a 1.6% rise.
Core CPI, which excludes the eight most volatile items, gained 0.5% in January, compared to expectations for a 0.1% slip.
But the commodity-related Canadian dollar’s gains were limited as oil prices turned lower on Friday, weighed by a rise in U.S. crude inventories last week.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was little changed at 100.97, off a one-week trough of 100.64 hit earlier in the session.