Investing.com - The dollar remained close four-year highs against a basket of other major currencies on Friday, after data showed that the U.S. economy grew in line with expectations in the last quarter, adding to expectations for an early U.S. rate hike.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis said U.S. gross domestic product expanded at an annual rate of 4.6% in the second quarter, in line with the consensus forecast, after contracting by 2.1% in the first three months of the year.
U.S. second quarter GDP was initially reported to have increased by 4.2%.
The positive data added to expectations for an early U.S. rate hike, after Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher said that the U.S. central bank may start raising interest rates around the spring of 2015.
The US Dollar Index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, added 0.22% to 85.53, not far from Thursday's high of 85.61, the highest level since July 2010.
USD/JPY rose 0.31%, hovering close to a six-year peak at 109.08.
Earlier Friday, data showed that Japan's consumer price inflation rose at an annualized rate of 3.3% this month, below expectations for a 3.4% increase.
Core consumer price inflation, which excludes fresh food, rose 3.1% in September from a year earlier, compared to expectations for an increase of 3.2%.
The euro was trading near two-year lows against the dollar, with EUR/USD last down 0.31% at 1.2724 after data earlier showed that the Gfk German consumer climate index ticked down to 8.3 this month, from a reading of 8.6 in August. Analysts had expected the index to slip to 8.5.
The report added to concerns over the outlook for growth in the euro zone's biggest economy as data on Wednesday showed that Germany's Ifo business confidence index deteriorated for the fifth successive month in September.
The single currency dropped to nearly two-year lows against the dollar on Thursday after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi reiterated the bank's commitment to act with more policy measures to boost inflation in the euro zone.
Elsewhere, GBP/USD edged down 0.12% to 1.6294, while USD/CHF gained 0.23% near 14-month highs at 0.9489.
The Australian dollar was steady, with AUD/USD near seven-month lows at 0.8786, while NZD/USD dropped to a new one-year trough, shedding 0.40% to trade at 0.7893.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD rose to fresh six-month highs and was last up 0.13% to 1.1122.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release a report by the University of Michigan on consumer sentiment.