The dollar was higher against the euro and the
yen on Friday, as the previous session's upbeat U.S. data continued to buoy the greenback and investors awaited the release of additional
economic reports due later in the day.
EUR/USD was last at 1.1369, down 0.16%.
USD/JPY was last at 119.18, up 0.24%.
The dollar strengthened broadly after the U.S. Department of Labor reported on Thursday that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending October 10 decreased by 7,000 to 255,000 from the previous week’s total of 262,000. Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise by 8,000 to 270,000.
Separately, the U.S. Commerce Department said that consumer prices dipped 0.2% last month, matching forecasts. Year-over-year, consumer prices were flat in September.
Core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy costs, increased by 0.2%, above expectations for a gain of 0.1%.
Investors were awaiting reports on U.S. industrial production and consumer sentiment due later in the day, for further indications on the strength of the economy.
Elsewhere in the currency trading, the Australian dollar declined Friday after a downbeat assessment of the economic outlook by the central bank with AUD/USD last trading at 0.7289, down 0.57%.
The Reserve Bank of Australia said the economic growth outlook for China and emerging economies has worsened while domestic conditions in housing set higher risks in its Financial Stability Review released on Friday.
"In addition lower commodity prices, fiscal pressure and political instability are compounding the situation in some cases," the RBA said.
Earlier, the New Zealand dollar fell in Asia despite slightly higher consumer inflation in the third quarter than expected. NZD/USD traded at 0.6830, down 0.32%, after the data.
In New Zealand, consumer prices gained 0.3% in the third quarter, above the 0.2% rise expected.
The consumer price gauge
is running slightly higher than Reserve Bank expectations and the strong
tradable inflation in this and the previous quarter signals the fall
in the New Zealand exchange rate over the past 15 months is having some
impact on prices of imports.
