Investing.com - The dollar was broadly lower against a basket of other major currencies on Wednesday, as markets eyed U.S. data on retail sales due later in the day after recent economic reports pointed to weakness in first quarter growth.
EUR/USD was up 0.11% to 1.1224, after rising to highs of 1.1265 earlier in the day.
The single currency pulled back from session highs after official data showed that euro area gross domestic product grew 0.4% in the first three months of the year, up from 0.3% in the final quarter of 2014 but slightly below forecasts for growth of 0.5%.
On a year-over-year basis, the bloc's GDP grew 1.0% after a 0.9% expansion in the three months to December. Economists had forecast growth of 1.1%.
The French economy grew 0.6% in the first quarter, the fastest rate of growth in two years, while Germany’s economy grew 0.3% in the first quarter, slowing from 0.7% in the previous quarter.
Data also showed that the euro zone's industrial production slipped 0.3% in March, confounding expectations for a 0.2% rise. February's figure was revised to a 1.0% gain from a previously estimated increase of 1.1%.
GBP/USD was steady at 1.5664, down from five-month highs of 1.5743 earlier in the session.
Sterling weakened after the Bank of England trimmed its forecast for growth this year to 2.4%, down from 2.9% three months ago. It also revised down forecasts for 2016 and 2017 to 2.6% and 2.4% respectively.
The central bank also said it expects inflation, which currently stands at a record-low zero, to return to its 2% target in two years' time, little changed from its last report.
Earlier Wednesday, the U.K. Office for National Statistics said the unemployment rate ticked down to 5.5% last month from 5.6% in March, hitting the lowest level since September 2008, in line with expectations.
The report also showed that the U.K. claimant count change dropped by 12,600 in April, confounding expectations for a 20,000 decline. March's figure was revised to a 16,700 fall from a previously estimated drop of 20,700.
Elsewhere, the dollar was steady against the yen, with USD/JPY at 119.80 and lower against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF slipping 0.15% to 0.9280.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were stronger, with AUD/NZD up 0.60% to 0.8023 and NZD/USD rallying 1.09% to 0.7442.
In its biannual Financial Stability Report, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand earlier said that the kiwi was "above its sustainable level."
Commenting on the report, RBNZ Governor Graeme Wheeler said "we still think the exchange rate is unjustified and unsustainable and we'd like to see a movement downwards in the exchange rate."
Meanwhile, USD/CAD slid 0.35% to trade at 1.1978.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.16% to 94.56.