Investing.com - The dollar remained broadly lower against the other major currencies on Friday, as investors eyed the release of key U.S. employment data due later in the day amid ongoing political tensions in Washington.
The dollar remained under pressure following reports Special Counsel Robert Mueller issued grand jury subpoenas amid an ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election.
According to Reuters, the subpoenas issued were reported to be in connection to a June 2016 meeting which involved Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner and a Russian lawyer.
The greenback has recently weakened amid worries over political turmoil in Washington and recent lackluster economic reports, which have raised doubts over whether the Federal Reserve will raise rates again this year.
On Thursday, the Institute for Supply Management said its index of non-manufacturing activity fell to 53.9 from 57.4 in June. Economists had forecast a reading of 57.0.
Investors were now looking ahead to the nonfarm payrolls report for July, due later Friday, to gauge whether the U.S. economy is strong enough for the Fed to stick to its planned tightening path.
EUR/USD added 0.12% to 1.1884, close to Wednesday’s 32-month peak of 1.1911.
Elsewhere, GBP/USD held steady at 1.3146, recovering from sharp losses posted on Thursday after the Bank of England left interest rates on hold at record lows and cut its economic growth forecast for this year and next.
USD/JPY was little changed at 110.08, while USD/CHF slipped 0.12% to trade at 0.9674.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were stronger, with AUD/USD up 0.26% at 0.7970 and with NZD/USD adding 0.16% to 0.7446.
Earlier Friday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said retail sales increased by 0.3% in June, beating expectations for an uptick of 0.2%.
But the Aussie’s gains were expected to remain limited as the Reserve Bank of Australia cut growth forecasts to 2.5% from 3.0% for 2017, saying that the recent appreciation of the nation’s currency has had a “modest dampening effect” on the outlook.
The comments came after RBA Governor Philip Lowe warned on Tuesday that the rising Australian dollar had become a threat to growth, inflation and employment.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD was almost unchanged at 1.2571.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.09% at 92.62, just off Wednesday’s 15-month low of 92.39.