Investing.com - The dollar remained near four-month lows against other major currencies on Friday, despite the release of mostly positive U.S. reports on retail sales and inflation.
The U.S. Commerce Department said that retail sales rose 0.4% in December, in line with expectations. Core retail sales, which exclude automobile sales, increased by 0.4%, also in line with expectations.
A separate report showed that that the U.S. consumer price index rose 0.1% in December, below forecasts for a 0.2% increase. Year-over-year, consumer prices increased 2.1% last month.
Core CPI, which excludes food and energy costs, rose 0.3% last month, above expectations for a 0.2% gain.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.56% at 91.15 by 08:45 a.m. ET (12:45 GMT), not far from a fresh four-month low of 91.03 hit earlier in the session.
The euro and the pound were higher, with EUR/USD up 0.80% at 1.2136 and with GBP/USD rallying 1.14% to 1.3686.
The single currency remained strongly supported after the European Central Bank said it could consider a gradual shift in guidance from early 2018, according to the minutes of its December meeting.
The yen turned lower, with USD/JPY up 0.22% at 111.52, while USD/CHF slid 0.39% to 0.9721.
Elsewhere, the Australian and New Zealand dollars were weaker, with AUD/USD down 0.49% at 0.7851 and with NZD/USD retreating 0.55% to 0.7221.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD rose 0.24% to trade at 1.2549.