Investing.com - The dollar slid lower and re-approached a recent five-month trough against other major currencies on Friday, as investors eyed the release of U.S. economic reports due later in the day and amid ongoing concerns over U.S. politics.
Sentiment on the greenback was fragile after U.S. President Donald Trump said he will either renegotiate or terminate a "horrible" trade deal with South Korea.
The comments came shortly after Trump said that a "major, major" conflict with North Korea is possible but he is looking for a diplomatic answer.
Market participants were also looking ahead to the release of reports on U.S. first-quarter growth and consumer sentiment, due later Friday.
EUR/USD climbed 0.59% to 1.0936 after weakening on Thursday when European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said there isn’t enough evidence to change the ECB’s inflation outlook.
The remarks came after the central bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a record-low 0.0%, in line with forecasts.
Earlier Friday, data showed that German retail sales rose 0.1% in March, confounding expectations for a 0.3% fall.
Elsewhere, GBP/USD gained 0.38% to a fresh six-month high of 1.2952 even as the U.K. Office for National Statistics said gross domestic product expanded by 0.3% in the three months ended March 31, below forecasts for growth of 0.4%.
However, the U.K. economy grew by 0.7% in the preceding quarter and has now grown for 17 consecutive quarters.
Year-over-year, U.K. economic growth expanded 2.1% in the first quarter, also below forecasts for an expansion of 2.2%.
USD/JPY added 0.10% to 111.38, while USD/CHF declined 0.38% to 0.9903.
Data earlier showed that Japan’s household spending declined 2.0% in March, compared to expectations for a 0.8% fall.
A separate report showed that Japan’s consumer price index rose by an annualized rate of 0.2% last month, below expectations for a 0.3% gain.
Meanwhile, industrial production dropped 2.1% in March, according to preliminary data, compared to forecasts for a 0.8% slide.
The Australian dollar was stronger, with AUD/USD up 0.25% at 0.7485, while NZD/USD held steady at 0.6872.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD was little changed at 1.3536, just off Thursday’s 14-month peak of 1.3672.
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 98.63, re-approaching a recent five-month low of 98.56.